Prof. Dr. Cavit Atalar

After graduating from Ankara University as the valedictorian in 1973, Prof. Dr. Cavit Atalar completed his doctorate studies at the University of London in 1980. He began to serve as an academician at the Department of Civil Engineering of Near East University in 1994. Over the last 28 years, he has realized more than 300 academic activities including more than 150 presentations and publications. He is the laureate of the European Heritage Award, known as the Europe Nostra Award.  He was honoured with the European Heritage Award for his project involving the restoration of the Historical Bedesten, also known as Old Nikola Church, and the restoration project of the Armenian Church and Monastery in 2009 and 2015, respectively. He is the editor or the author and co-author of 19 books, and more than 100 articles, papers, project reports, and technical reports. Six of his papers have been published in the proceedings of the International and European Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering conferences held every four years. Cavit Atalar has organized more than 30 conferences and served as the chair or member, panel member, chair of a session, or a member of the advisory board in many national and international conferences. Together with the Chairperson of the Turkish Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Prof. Dr. Cavit Atalar chairs the organizing committee of the International Conference on New Developments in Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, which is held every four years under the aegis of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering in collaboration with Near East University and the Turkish Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. From 2002 to 2004, he served as the editor-in-chief of the Geosound Journal. He has been a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Geotechnical Engineering since 2007. He has been serving as a peer reviewer for 4 international journals since 2002. He served as a coordinator on 3 projects and as a researcher on 3 projects supported by international organizations. He served as a coordinator on 4 projects and as a researcher on 2 projects supported by national organizations. For two terms, he served as a member of the Board of the Union of Chambers of Cyprus Turkish Engineers and Architects, as the Chairman of the Chamber of the Earth Science Engineers, and as a committee member of the Nicosia Zoning Plan.