Nazım Terzioğlu (1912 – September 20, 1976) was a Turkish mathematician. He was one of the first mathematicians in Turkish academia. His son, Tosun Terzioğlu, was also a mathematician.
Early life
Nazım Terzioğlu completed his primary education in his place of birth, Kayseri. He started his secondary education in Istanbul and then continued in İzmir until his graduation from İzmir High School in 1930. At that time, some of Turkey's most qualified mathematics teachers worked at İzmir High School. Alumni of that school included mathematicians such as Cahit Arf (1910–1997) and Tevfik Oktay Kabakcıoğlu (1910–1971). In those years, the successful young people were sent abroad by the government to be trained as qualified workforce in various fields needed for the country. Terzioğlu passed the relevant exam and left for Germany to study mathematics on behalf of the Ministry of Education of Turkey. He pursued his higher education at the University of Göttingen and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. He completed his Ph.D. under the supervision of the famous mathematician of that period, Constantin Carathéodory (1873–1950), who was a member of a Greek family in Fener, Istanbul.
Career Upon completion of his education in Germany, Terzioğlu began to work as an assistant of Mathematical Mechanics and Advanced Geometry in the Institute of Mathematics of the Faculty of Science of Istanbul University in 1937. He became associate professor in 1942 and the following year, he was appointed to professorship in the newly established Institute of Mathematics of the Faculty of Science of Ankara University (1943). After spending two years in this faculty, he returned to Istanbul University as a professor (1944). At Istanbul University, he worked as the Dean of the Faculty of Science in 1950–1952. During the same period, Terzioğlu established some of the scientific institutions for which Turkey had felt the major need until those years. These are the Institute for Geophysics of Istanbul University, the Institute for Hydrobiology in Istanbul Baltalimanı and the Cosmic Ray Institute which Terzioğlu founded at Uludağ, Bursa in cooperation with Adnan Sokullu and Sait Akpınar. After his deanship in the Faculty of Science, he became the Chairman of the Analysis Division of the Institute of Mathematics in the same faculty (1953). In 1965–1967, Terzioğlu, in addition to his responsibilities in Istanbul University, worked first by proxy then acting as the principal founder-rector of Karadeniz Technical University (KTU). It is his honour to establish the first Faculty of Fundamental Sciences of Turkey in KTU. In 1967, Terzioğlu returned to his mission in the Faculty of Science of Istanbul University. In 1969 and 1971, he was elected as the rector of Istanbul University. He had maintained this position for two periods (28 October 1969 – 28 October 1971 and 28 October 1971 – 31 May 1974). In his first years as a rector, he restored the building of a historical soup kitchen which was assigned by Wakfs to the university as a part of the Sehzade Mosque. On 6 August 1971, by setting up a new printing system in it, he put the same building into service with the name of Research Institute for Mathematics of Faculty of Science. Terzioğlu also established a mathematics library within this institute with a capacity of 2000 books which he provided through donations and purchase from foreign countries. After his death, the institute was named on the proposal of the Faculty of Science as Nazim Terzioğlu Mathematics Research Institute. As an outcome of the negotiations with Silivri Municipality, Terzioğlu provided Istanbul University with 35 acres of land to be donated in Silivri. In a part of this land, 18 study rooms, 3 large conference halls, a library and a guest house to accommodate scientists coming from abroad were constructed in accord with his order. Terzioğlu considered graduate education very seriously. He believed that talented young people ought to be trained in a particular way. To provide such an environment, he invited foreign scientists and organized congresses, seminars, colloquia, summer and progress courses in Silivri facilities which was opened into use on September 3, 1973. Thanks to these activities, he made significant contributions to the education of young generations. The scientific meetings organized by Terzioğlu in Silivri facilities are:
February 10–14, 1973: First National Meeting of Mathematicians; July 9–14, 1973: the preparatory course related to the Summer Seminar on International Display Theory of Finite Groups; July 15–28, 1973: Summer Seminar on International Display Theory of Finite Groups; August 20 – September 9, 1973: International Symposium on Functional Analysis; September 8–21, 1975: the preparatory course related to the International Symposium on Algebraic Number Theory; September 22–27, 1975: International Symposium on Algebraic Number Theory; April 23–26, 1976: Second National Meeting of Mathematicians; August 1976: Ultrasound Congress (joint with physicists); September 5–11, 1976: International Congress of Functional Analysis; September 20–25, 1976: Rolf Nevanlinna International Symposium.
Death Terzioğlu died as a result of a heart attack in the morning of the opening day of the International Symposium organized to tribute Rolf Nevanlinna, who had been a teacher of Terzioğlu. Albeit his unexpected loss, the symposium was completed after some rearrangements were made in the program. The guest mathematicians also attended the funeral ceremony on September 22 and the symposium began on September 23. Terzioğlu was elected as the honorary guest of this symposium and the title doctoris honoris causa was awarded to Rolf Nevanlinna by Istanbul University.
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