Vehbi GÖRGÜLÜ, Faculty Member, PhD
(BİLGİ Public Relations and Corporate Communication Master’s Degree Program Director)
Vehbi Görgülü completed his BS dual degree in Global and International Affairs at Middle East Technical University and State University of New York as the highest ranking student. He has started his MA degree at University of Westminster and completed his studies at the Department of Media and Communication Systems in İstanbul Bilgi University. He received his doctoral degree in Media and Communication Studies from Galatasaray University.

Having authored many national and international publications on social media and consumers, corporate leadership, and popular culture, Görgülü has been the director of Public Relations and Corporate Communication Master’s Degree Program since 2017 and he teaches ‘Corporate Leadership and Risk Management’ course within the scope of the program. His latest book Corporate Leadership and Risk Management (Kurumsal Liderlik ve Risk Yönetimi) was published by Kırmızı Publishing. Görgülü is also the Co-Head of Communication Design and Management Department.

Bârika GÖNCÜ, Faculty Member, PhD
(BİLGİ Communication Design and Management Department Head)
One of our university’s full-time faculty members, Bârika Göncü, PhD, teaches the course titled ‘Strategic Reputation Management’ within our master’s degree program. Having been a part of İstanbul Bilgi University’s academic staff for long years, Göncü is a member of International Public Relations Association, International Association of Business Communicators, and Public Relations Society of America and she is also among the board of directors of Turkish Public Relations Association (TÜHİD) and Communication Consultancies Association of Turkey. She is the Head of Communication Design and Management Department.

Başak UÇANOK TAN, Assoc. Prof.
(BİLGİ Communication Design and Management Department Faculty Member)
Başak Uçanok Tan completed her undergraduate studies in Başkent University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Business. Upon her graduation, she began her MA studies in Northampton University in International Management by receiving the Sunley Management Research Central Grant. In her master’s thesis, she studied the psychological effects of layoffs during financial crises on the employees. Continuing her academic studies at İstanbul Bilgi University and Marmara University, Başak Uçanok Tan received the title of doctor with her thesis on organizational citizenship behavior in SMEs and was assigned as Associate Professor to İstanbul Bilgi University’s Faculty of Communication. Her academic works mainly focus on micro organizational behavior and intends to understand the dynamics of organizational phenomena such as organizational citizenship, commitment, alienation, leadership, and cooperation. She was the program coordinator of Public Relations between 2010-2012 and she received the title of Associate Professor in 2018.

Erkan SAKA, Prof.
(BİLGİ Media and Communication Systems Department Head)
After completing his undergraduate and MA studies at the Department of Sociology in Boğaziçi University, Erkan Saka attended Rice University for his PhD in anthropology. The author of many national and international publications, Erkan Saka’s key areas of study include new media technologies, digital cultures, and digital anthropology.

Dr. Zehra GÜNGÖR
(STAGE Communications Consultancy President)
She received her MA degree from Marmara University, Faculty of Communication, Department of Public Relations with her thesis on ‘Total Quality Management in Public Relations.’ She completed her doctoral dissertation on ‘Application of Communication Management in Diplomacy’ in the same university and received the title of doctor. She began journalism as an intern in Cumhuriyet newspaper in 1982. She worked at Günaydın (reporter), İstanbul Yeni Asır (editor), Ekonomik Bülten (news director), and Milliyet (economy columnist). She won the scholarhip of Prime Ministry Directorate General of Press and Information and did a one-year journalism internship in New York in 1987. She worked as a reporter and editor at McGraw – Hill Publishing (Business Week, Securities International, Construction Week, Oil Gram News/Price, Aviation Week, Global Alert etc.). She made research on Japanese economy and media in 1997 with the scholarship of Japanese Foreign Ministry.

She received the best interview award in 1996, the best interview series award in 1998, and the journalist of the year award in interview section in 1999 by Turkish Journalists Association. Her first memoir-novel Yasak Ülke was published in 2000.

In 1999, she established STAGE Communications Consultancy (www.stagepr.com). She is still the head of the company. In 2008, she founded Dokuz Organization and Food company mainly operating in the fields of organization and food. Under the brand of ZehraGungorConsultancy, she has been providing trainings and conferences to companies that are interested in communication, marketing, crisis and media trainings since 2014.

She was the President of International Public Relations Association (IPRA), the oldest and largest public relations association of the world, in 2014. She was in the board of directors of The Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey (KAGIDER) for the second time in 2015 and she is still Vice President.

Zeynep ÖZARSLAN, Assoc. Prof.
(Çukurova University Faculty of Communication, Department of Journalism Faculty Member)
Zeynep Özarslan holds a PhD degree in communication sciences and is currently an Associate Professor of media studies in the Department of Journalism, Faculty of Communication, Cukurova University. She has been working for various public and foundation universities since 1998 and giving lectures on film and media studies at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Özarslan is the co-editor of Digital Inequalities and the Future of Journalism (Sayısal Eşitsizlikler ve Gazeteciliğin Geleceği); co-editor and co-translator of Discourse and Ideology (Söylem ve İdeoloji); On Suicide (İntihar Üzerine); Panopticon: The Power of Eye (Panoptikon: Gözün İktidarı); and editor of Film Theory Volume I and II (Sinema Kuramları I ve II) and Hate Speech Report in Social Media during COVID-19 Pandemic (COVID-19 Pandemi Sürecinde Sosyal Medyada Nefret Söylemi Raporu). Sociology of communication, new media and film studies are some of her key areas of study.

Öykü GÜL ÖZDEN, PhD
(BİLGİ Public Relations Program Faculty Member)
Having completed her master’s degree in Marmara University, Dr. Öykü Gül Özden received her title of doctor from İstanbul University. Her works on corporate social responsibility and corporate reputation have been published by many national and international publishing houses and she is also the author of Turkish Public Relations Association Public Relations Manual (Türkiye Halkla İlişkiler Derneği Halkla İlişkiler El Kitabı).