Esra Gençtürk

Dr. Esra Gençtürk was appointed as the Rector of Ozyegin University in 2014. After graduating from Robert College (1977) in Turkey, she received her B.S. degree (1981) from University of Southern California, and earned her M.B.A. (1983) and Ph.D. in Marketing (1990) from University of Minnesota. Before joining Özyeğin University in 2009, Dr. Gençtürk was on the Marketing and International Business faculty of the University of Texas at Austin (1989-1996), and a faculty member of the College of Administrative Sciences and Economics at Koç University (1996-2009). She joined Ozyegin University in 2009 as Executive Director of Sector Solutions Program, and served as the Vice Rector between 2011 and 2014.

Dr. Gençtürk was the recipient of the University of Minnesota annual doctoral dissertation fellowship for 1986-1987, and was a fellow at the 1986 American Marketing Association Doctoral Consortium. She was also the co-recipient of the 1987 Robert Lieberman Memorial Award for teaching excellence at the University of Minnesota. At the University of Texas, Dr. Gençtürk was a finalist in the 1990 Business Council Texas Excellence Teaching Award, and was nominated for several teaching awards including the Friar Centennial Teaching Fellowship (Spring 1991, Spring 1990), College of Business Administration Foundation Teaching Award (Spring 1992, Spring 1991) as well as the Hank and Mary Harkins Foundation Award for Effective Teaching in Large Classes (Spring 1990, Spring 1993). Dr. Gençtürk has taught International Marketing, Marketing Research, and Marketing Strategy at both the undergraduate and graduate levels as well as at Executive MBA and Executive Training programs.

Dr. Gençtürk’s research interests include strategic marketing and competition strategies, management of distribution channels, foreign market entry and penetration strategies, research design, and measurement considerations. In addition to her award-winning research and articles published in refereed international journals, Prof. Gençtürk also served on the editorial boards of the Journal of International Business Studies, the Journal of International Marketing, the Journal of International Management, and Advances in International Marketing. Prof. Gençtürk served as Vice President of Communications for the American Marketing Association Global Special Interest group for two consecutive terms between 2005 and 2010, and was elected as its Chair in 2011.