Prof. Derya Oktay selected to serve as the new Editor-in-Chief of Ekistics and the New Habitat

2022-10-16

The Editorial Board of the Ekistics and the New Habitat journal is very pleased to announce its new Editor-in-Chief, Dr Derya Oktay Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at Maltepe University, Istanbul, Turkey.


Derya is a leader in the fields of urbanism and architecture, publishing innovative research in the social-cultural and spatial aspects of cities and housing. Formerly the founding Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and the Chair of the Department of Architecture at Ondokuz Mayis University, she brings a wealth of knowledge, professional expertise, and editorial experience to the role. Indeed, Derya has an exceptional record of leading from the front as Professor at the Faculty of Architecture of the Eastern Mediterranean University in N. Cyprus, its associated Urban Research & Development Center (URDC), and as founding Director of the MS in Urban Design Programme. She was a visiting professor at University of California - Berkeley, University of Michigan, Politecnico di Milano, Oxford Brookes University and Pratt Institute.


Having served as the elected President of the Society for International Development (SID) Lefkosa (Nicosia) Chapter in Cyprus, Derya was recently elected as a member of the World Renewable Energy Network Management Board (WREN). Her commitment to service is unwavering and she plays a key role global efforts to meet Sustainable Development Goals. Not only is Derya's work widely recognized nationally and internationally, but she was honored in July 2021 with the 'WREN PIONEER AWARD' by the World Renewable Energy Network. Significantly, she was also ranked as one of the World’s Top 2% scientists (overall) and Top 1% scientists in the field of 'Architecture / Built Environment and Design' both in 2020 and 2021 based on multidimensional impact research conducted at Stanford University. (published by Elsevier, Oct 2021).

Derya's qualitative and empirical research projects have been funded by the European Commission (EC), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), and Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU), and she has authored nearly 200 publications including books, chapters in refereed books, refereed journal articles of the highest categories, conference papers and popular press articles. Accordingly, Derya is regularly invited to speak at various national and international conferences/platforms as an invited or keynote speaker.

Active on the executive board of various international and local scientific/professional associations, and on the editorial board of various prestigious journals, Derya has been the guest editor of four special/themed issues in various publications, including the inaugural special issue of Ekistics and the New Habitat.

Most recently, Derya has been a Jury Member at the International Design Competition for Namdo Rightous Army History Museum, South Korea, an important project of the Korean Government; a Jury Member at the UIA 2020 Award for Innovation in Architectural Education, and a Jury Member at the 13th Biennale of Architecture, Venice Biennale 2012 at Recycling Common Ground Workshop & Competition.

Over the past 25 years, Derya has been at the forefront of efforts to develop architecture and urbanism around the world. In this announcement it is not possible to do justice to the depth of experience that she brings to the Editor-in-Chief role. Suffice to say, it is with greatest pleasure that the members of the Editorial Board welcome Prof. Oktay to the role as the new Editor-in-Chief of Ekistics and the New Habitat.