President of Academy

Prof. Dr. Muzaffer ŞEKER

Prof. Dr. Muzaffer Şeker was elected President of the Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA) in 2019 and re-elected in 2023. By a decision published in the Official Gazette on 14 April 2025, he was appointed a member of the Presidential Science, Technology and Innovation Policies Council. As a professor of anatomy, he continues his academic work at Necmettin Erbakan University Meram Faculty of Medicine.

As President of TÜBA, he represents Türkiye at the Science Summit of the G20 countries (Science 20), the General Assembly of the International Science Council (ISC), ALLEA (All European Academies) and the World Science Forum. He is a member of the World Science Forum Steering Committee and Co-Chair of the 2027 World Science Forum. He represents Türkiye on the science diplomacy platforms of UNESCO and the United Nations, and serves as TÜBA's representative at the UN Climate Change Conference COP31. He held the rotating presidency of the Union of National Academies of Sciences of the Turkic World for the 2024–2026 term and chaired the Union's 8th General Assembly held in Baku (2025).

In August 2026, he was elected a foreign member of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan in recognition of his contributions to morphometric anatomy. He is a Full Member of TÜBA and served on the TÜBA Council from 2012 to 2019. He has served on the boards of professional organizations such as the Turkish Society of Anatomy and Clinical Anatomy, the Basic Medical Sciences Platform and the Association of University Hospitals.

He is the founding rector of Necmettin Erbakan University, where he served two terms as rector between 2010 and 2018. He was a member of the Founding Board of Trustees of Istanbul Medipol University (2008–2010). He has served on boards that shape higher education, health and science policy, including the The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK) Science Board (2016–2019), the Council of Higher Education's selection committees for the Disability Education and Doctoral Awards, the Higher Education Quality Council (YÖKAK), the Interuniversity Council (ÜAK), the education committees of ÖSYM (Measuring, Selection and Placement Centre), the Ministry of Health's Board of Medical Specialty Education (TUKMOS) and the Health Tourism Supreme Council.

He graduated from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Uludağ University in 1986. In 1995, he completed his PhD in Human Anatomy at the University of Leicester Medical School in the United Kingdom with a thesis entitled “The morphometric and immunocytochemical analysis of the human carotid body.” He also holds a bachelor's degree from the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Anadolu University. Having begun his academic career as a research assistant at Selçuk University Meram Faculty of Medicine, he became an associate professor in 2000 and a full professor in 2006, and served as head of the Departments of Medical Education and Informatics and of Anatomy.

He has authored numerous articles, books and conference papers published in national and international journals on anatomy, morphology, developmental anatomy, neuroscience and morphometric analysis, science diplomacy, medical education and educational technologies, and has supervised 13 graduate and medical specialty theses. His recent work has appeared in journals such as BMC Immunology (2025), Immunologic Research (2024) and the Journal of Surgery and Medicine (2024). Works he has edited at TÜBA include “One Health: Holistic and Sustainable Solutions” (2026), “Science Diplomacy for Global Challenges” (2025), the “Türkiye Maarif Encyclopedia” (2024), “East Anatolian Fault Earthquakes” (2023) and the TÜBA COVID-19 Global Outbreak Assessment Report (2020).

Prof. Dr. Muzaffer Şeker is married and the father of three children.