He was born in 1950 in the Tahtakıran village of the Göle district of Kars. He started his career as a village teacher in a primary school in the Konakyazı village of Sivas province. After graduating from the Science Education Department of the Selçuk Education Institute in Konya, he joined the staff of the Cilavuz Teacher Training School in Kars and served as a science teacher and the Director of National Education for two years. He later won a scholarship from the Ministry of National Education to study abroad and entered the Reinische Friedrich Wilhelms University in Bonn as a chemistry student. A year later, he won the Friedrich Ebert Scholarship, which would support him for another 10 years. He received his doctorate from this university in 1985 and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Kentucky in the USA. He joined the METU Chemistry Department as a faculty member in 1987 and received the title of professor in 1993. Professor Demir continued his association with the University of Kentucky throughout his highly distinguished career at METU, spending more time in Germany as a Humboldt Fellow, and also establishing professional connections in France. Prof. Demir’s diverse research interests include asymmetric synthesis, synthesis of optically pure bioactive materials, synthesis of bioactive materials using biotechnological methods, developments in amino acid chemistry, development of new heterogeneous catalysts, and studies on new oxidation methods. He has 142 scientific publications and 5 American and European patents.
