| Feridun Hamdullahpur | |||||||||||||
| 6th President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Waterloo | |||||||||||||
| Term Start: | October 1, 2010 | ||||||||||||
| Term End: | June 30, 2021 | ||||||||||||
| Chancellor: | Tom Jenkins Dominic Barton | ||||||||||||
| Predecessor: | David Lloyd Johnston | ||||||||||||
| Successor: | Vivek Goel | ||||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Turkey | ||||||||||||
| Education: | Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in mechanical engineering PhD in chemical engineering | ||||||||||||
| Alma Mater: | Istanbul Technical University Technical University of Nova Scotia | ||||||||||||
| Occupation: | Academic | ||||||||||||
| Spouse: | Cathy Hamdullahpur (née Johnson) | ||||||||||||
| Children: | 2 sons (Brian, Kevin) [1] | ||||||||||||
| Awards: | Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal l’insigne de chevalier des Palmes Académiques Order of Merit of the Republic of Turkey Order of Canada | ||||||||||||
| Signature: | Feridun Hamdullahpur signature.jpg | ||||||||||||
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Feridun Hamdullahpur [2] (born) is the chancellor of International Business University. Previously, he was the president and vice-chancellor of the University of Waterloo.[3] Hamdullahpur was named the sixth president of the University of Waterloo in March 2011.[4] [5] Hamdullahpur's term ended on July 1, 2021, when his successor, Vivek Goel, took office.
Hamdullahpur was born in Turkey to an Iranian Azerbaijani father and a Turkish mother. He is the youngest of five brothers. His businessman father, Nasri, died of liver disease before Hamdullahpur turned one. His mother, Merziye, raised her five sons in Turkey.[6] He moved from Turkey to Nova Scotia in 1981 where he met his wife, Cathy. Cathy was 21, a fourth-year nursing student at Dalhousie University.[7] They married in Halifax on June 28, 1985, and later traveled to Turkey for a small ceremony with family.
Hamdullahpur attended the Istanbul Technical University earning his undergraduate degree and his master's in mechanical engineering. He moved to Canada to do a PhD at the Technical University of Nova Scotia, which is now part of Dalhousie University.[3]
Prior to being appointed president, Hamdullahpur was Waterloo's vice president academic and provost, a role which he held for just over a year before being appointed interim president. Prior to this, Hamdullahpur held various roles at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
After completing his time as president and vice-chancellor of the University of Waterloo, Hamdullahpur continues to serve on several boards, including as a board director for AMTD Group of which he started a relationship with the overall group since 2015 as an Independent Chairman of the Firmwide Executive Management Committee.[8] He also currently serves as a member of ApplyBoard's Canadian Advisory Board[9] and as a member of the Honorary Treasurer for the Association of Commonwealth Universities.[10]
He was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2022.[2]