Hafize Gaye Erkan: Age, Origin, and Previous Duties
Hafize Gaye Erkan, the newly appointed Chairman of the Central Bank of Turkey, has been making headlines lately. Erkan, a Turkish economist and engineer, is the first woman to take on this prestigious position. She is also known as the “Awesome Turkish Girl” in the USA, where she has had a successful career in finance.
Erkan was born in Istanbul in 1982 to a mechanical engineer father and a mathematics teacher mother from Elazig. She graduated from Istanbul Boys’ High School with the second rank and entered the Boğaziçi University Industrial Engineering Department as the 26th in 1997, earning a degree in the university exam. Erkan then graduated with first place in her major and received scholarship offers from 9 universities, including Stanford, Princeton, Boston, Cornell, and California. She preferred Princeton and became the first student to complete a two-year doctoral program in one year. In this way, she achieved the title of “youngest finance professor” in the country.
Erkan worked in the US finance industry for over 15 years, starting at Goldman Sachs in 2005 upon an offer she received after completing her education at Princeton. She worked here for about 9 years and then started to work as a manager at First Republic Bank, where she played a large part in growing the bank’s funds up to 10 times. Erkan also served as a member of the board of directors of the US-based jewelry company Tiffany & Co. for two years and is still a member of the board of directors of the global financial consultancy company Marsh McLennan.
After Mehmet Şimşek was appointed as the Minister of Treasury and Finance, there was talk of Erkan’s future as the head of the Central Bank. Erkan’s important financial career abroad led to expectations that she would be accepted by President Erdogan, and she was eventually appointed as the Chairman of the Central Bank. The appointment decision was published in the Official Gazette.
As the first woman president appointed to the Central Bank, Erkan has big shoes to fill. However, her impressive track record in finance and economics suggests that she is up to the task. With Erkan at the helm, the Central Bank will undoubtedly be in capable hands, and Turkey’s economy will likely continue to grow and thrive.
