I am a Professor of Economics at Boston College and a microeconomic theorist who has research interests in market design, mechanism design, and game theory with an emphasis on the theory and practice of matching markets and allocation/exchange of discrete resources.

Curriculum Vitae
Google Scholar Page
BC Department Page
IDEAS-RePec Page
My more recent research focuses on
- The theory of allocation systems via reserves and their applications in rationing of scarce medical resources such as antivirals, ICU units, vaccines
- The theory, design, analysis, and implementation of new organ and blood allocation and exchange policies, such as kidney, liver, and dual-donor exchange clearinghouses and blood allocation with replacement donors
- Mechanism design and axiomatics for matching and discrete resource allocation including school choice
- The theory and practice of balanced exchange in two-sided matching markets such as tuition exchange in college admissions, teacher reassignment, student exchange, and transfer of student-athletes
- Improving recommendation and matching systems used in the adoption of children
- Improving tie-break mechanisms used in sports competitions
On The 2012 Economics Prize in Memory of Alfred Nobel:
The Economics Prize in Memory of Alfred Nobel was awarded in 2012 to Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley for their contributions on the “Theory of Stable Allocations and the Practice of Market Design.” My heartfelt congratulations go out to them. I am also grateful to The Nobel Committee, which extensively cited my research in the scientific background document among the main contributions that led to this prize.
Academic Positions
- Professor, Boston College, Department of Economics (Sep 2011-present)
- Associate Professor, Boston College, Department of Economics (Sep 2008-Aug 2011)
- Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh, Department of Economics (Sep 2005-Aug 2008)
- Assistant Professor, Koç University, Department of Economics (Sep 2000-Aug 2005)
Visiting Fellowships
- Professorial Research Fellow, Deakin University Australia (2017-present)
- Visiting Professor, MIT (Fall 2017)
- Distinguished Research Fellow, Koç University, (2013 – 2017)
- Honorary Professor, Deakin University Australia (2013 – 2015)
- Visiting Professor, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (Jan 2014 – Apr 2014)
- Visiting Researcher, Microsoft Research Lab, New England (Aug 2010 – Dec 2010)
- Research Fellow, Harvard Business School (Sep 2002 – Aug 2003)
Education
- Ph.D. in Economics, University of Pittsburgh (2000)
- M.A. in Economics, Bilkent University (1995) and University of Pittsburgh (1997)
- B.Sc. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Bilkent University (1993)
Editorial Affiliations
- Associate/Advisory Editor: Theoretical Economics (2012-present), Journal of Economic Theory (2016-present), Games and Economic Behavior (2018-present, Journal of Mechanism and Institution Design (2015-present), Journal of Dynamics and Games (2015-present), Review of Economic Design (2012-2019), Journal of Mathematical Economics (2010-2016), BE Journal of Theoretical Economics (2007-2013)
Prizes, Grants, Awards, Honors
Prizes, Awards, and Honors
- Paper “Pairwise Kidney Exchange” selected to the issue Articles celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Journal of Economic Theory edited by Karl Shell, Tilman Borgers, Alessandro Pavan (2020)
- Elected Fellow, Science Academy Turkey (BA) (2014-present)
- Franz Edelman Award Laureate, INFORMS (2014)
- Special Award, Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council (TUBITAK) (2013)
- 9 citations (6 among main contributions that led to the prize) and name mention, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences Scientific Background (2012)
- President, Society for Economic Design (2008-2015)
- Distinguished Young Scholar Award (GEBIP), (Older) Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA)(2005)
- Research Incentive Award, METU Parlar Foundation (2005)
- Incentive Award in Social Sciences, (Older) Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA) (2004)
- Best Graduate Student Paper in Computational Economics, Society for Computational Economics (1999) for the paper “Backward Unraveling over Time: The Evolution of Strategic Behavior in the Entry-Level British Medical Labor Markets”
- Excellence in Refereeing, American Economic Review (2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017)
Grants
- NSF Grant: “Liver Exchange” No: SES #1729778 (as Principal Investigator)(2017-2019) (grant amount: $ 291,749, including two other PIs)
- NSF Grant: “Organ Exchange for Kidneys, Livers, and Lungs” No: SES #1426440 (as Co-Principal Investigator)(2014-2017) (grant amount: $ 280,247, including one other PI)
- NSF Grant: “Collaborative Research: The Optimal Timing of Kidney Exchanges: A Markov Game Approach” No: CMMI #1069100 (as Principal Investigator)(2011-2014) (grant amount: $90,978)
- NSF Grant: “Collaborative Research: Kidney Exchange” No: SES #0616689 (as Principal Investigator)(2006-2008) (grant amount: $69,870)
- NSF Grant: “EHP:Market Culture, Performance, and the Timing of Transactions” No: SES#0338619 (as Co-Principal Investigator) (2004-2010) (grant amount:$323,338 including two other PIs)
Personal Information
- Born in 1971 in Ankara, Turkey and lived there until 1995.
- Attended Ankara Ataturk Anadolu Middle and High School (AAAL) from 1982 to 1989.
- Married to Lori since 2000 with two boys, Berk (born in 2003) and Baran (born in 2008).
- Enjoys running, hiking, board games, and science non-fiction/fiction.