Vecdi Diker
 Vecdi Diker  (engineer) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1908 Istanbul, Turkey |
| Died | 13 July 1997 (Age 89) |
| Nationality | Turkish |
| Alma mater | University of Missouri |
US-educated Turkish engineer and Directorate of Highways. Early Bilderberg guest. | |
Vecdi Diker was an engineer.[1] He played a part in the establishment of the Middle East Technical University.
Background
Diker graduated from the University of Missouri's Civil Engineering Faculty.
Activities
In 1936, he was appointed Director of The Ministry of Public Works for Water and Bridges. He was a co-founder of the General Directorate of Highways (1950-51). He was a consultant at the Ministry of Public Works.
Later he freelanced for Turkish Tractor, Turkish Automotive and Sakarya Rubber. [2]
A 1960 Time magazine article described the establishment of the Middle East Technical University: "METU is the result of high dreams and hard work. At dinner one night in Ankara five years ago, Charles Abrams, a U.S. housing expert on a United Nations mission, commiserated with Vecdi Diker, at that time Turkey's highway director, over the state of Turkish education. Both agreed that what Turkey needed most was a technical college. While Diker sold the idea to his government, Abrams sold it to the U.N. The U.N. chipped in $1.500,000, its largest contribution to date to any educational institution, to help start the school, and by the fall of 1956 the first architecture class was at work. within two years, METU had grown to four schools (architecture and city planning; engineering; administrative sciences; arts and sciences), and in May 1959 it was formally chartered by the Turkish government."[3]
Event Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilderberg/1959 | 18 September 1959 | 20 September 1959 | Turkey Yesilkoy | The 8th Bilderberg and the first in Turkey. 60 guests. |
