Dr. Vural Akışık received his B.Sc. in Economics, M.Sc in Mathematics at the METU in Ankara and Ph.D. in Mathematical Statistics from the University of California at Berkeley. Earlier in his career, Dr. Akışık founded Turkey’s first investment bank together as partners with Bankers Trust Company and Türkiye İş Bankası. As CEO, managed the change of Disbank into a dynamic and profitable financial institution. During the 2001 economic crisis served as the Chairman of the Turkish State Banks, with the specific mandate of restructuring them. He was Chairman of Petrol Ofisi, and Vice Chairman of Doğan Holding prior to his retirement He is a former Chairman of the Turkish-American Business Council and currently serves on the High Advisory Council of Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TÜSİAD) and the Board of Trustees of Malatya Educational Fund.