Prof. Dr. Hayrettin Yücel was born on March 5, 1948, in Ankara, Türkiye. He received his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Middle East Technical University (METU) in 1971 and his M.S. degree in 1973. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of New Brunswick in 1978. In 1979, he began his academic career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at METU. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1983 and to Professor in 1989. Following his retirement due to the mandatory retirement age in March 2015, he served as a faculty member at the METU Northern Cyprus Campus for two years. Between 1990 and 1998, Professor Yücel served as Vice Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering. From 2004 to 2015, he held the positions of Deputy Director and subsequently Director of the METU Central Laboratory. Professor Yücel's primary research interests focused on the mathematical modeling of diffusion and ion exchange in microporous and mesoporous materials, including synthetic and natural zeolites. Throughout his academic career, he supervised or co-supervised 30 master's theses and 6 doctoral dissertations. Among his final academic contributions was his role as a co-author of the book Mathematical Techniques in Chemical Engineering. Professor Dr. Hayrettin Yücel was married and the father of one child. He passed away on March 15, 2026, leaving behind a lasting academic legacy through his valuable scientific contributions and the hundreds of students he mentored throughout his distinguished career.
