Celal Şengör

Ali Mehmet Celâl Şengör
Şengör, while explaining the short arms of Tyrannosaurus rex (at the back) in Musee d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris (2005).
Born	(1955-03-24) 24 March 1955 (age 62) İstanbul, Turkey
Nationality	Turkish
Occupation	Professor of Geology
Years active	1974 -
Known for	Tectonics of Turkey and Asia
Awards	Bigsby Medal (1999) Gustav-Steinmann-Medaille (2010)

Ali Mehmet Celâl Şengör (born 24 March 1955) is a Turkish geologist. He is currently on the faculty at Istanbul Technical University, Department of Geological Engineering. After graduating from Robert College, he received his PhD from the State University of New York, Albany in 1982. He also writes a weekly popular science columns in the center-left daily Cumhuriyet. He is married and has one child named Asım Şengör.

Professor Şengör is a (foreign) member of The American Philosophical Society, The United States National Academy of Sciences and The Russian Academy of Sciences. Actually, he is the second Turkish prominent professor who is elected as a member by the Russian Academy of Sciences after Professor ordinarius Mehmet Fuat Köprülü. And he was decorated with the coveted Gustav-Steinmann Medaille —the highest distinction of the Geologische Vereinigung e.V.

Celâl Şengör is vocal in his support of Turkish military and the 1980 military coup in Turkey. In a very controversial interview published on the website of Radikal newspaper, Şengör argued that the root cause of Turkey's political problems was the lack of an aristocratic class, which would lead the society in cultural life and politics. According to Şengör, Turkish military is the only elite class in society, and their refinement and education make them qualified for rule. Most controversially, he expressed his unqualified approval of every policy of the military regime between 1980 and 1982 in Turkey. Şengör later apologized for his remarks and claimed that he was misunderstood.