Construction is well underway for the Sancar Scholars Residence (SSR) in Chapel Hill. Located at Velma Road and looking over the Sancar Turkish Cultural and Community Center (STCCC), it will provide accommodations for visiting Turkish scholars and students.
Since 2007, the Aziz and Gwen Sancar Foundation (AGSF) has worked to strengthen bonds between Turkey and the United States by fostering a deeper understanding of Turkish culture. So far, its efforts have mostly been conducted through the Sancar Center, but the foundation is seeking to expand that goal through the soon-to-be-completed scholars residence.
According to Vice Chairman of the Board for AGSF Fevzi Yalin, the project is a realization of Dr. Aziz Sancar’s long-standing dream to provide graduate housing and accommodations near a university campus for Turkish scholars.
The 2015 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, Dr. Sancar earned his M.D. from Istanbul University and his P.h.D from the University of Texas at Dallas. Today, he is the Sarah Graham Kenan Professor of Biochemistry at UNC. But when Sancar first arrived in the United States, he was arrested by campus security for taking a shower with a fire hose, Yalin explained.
“And they were like, ‘Who are you, what are you?’ It turns out that nobody asked him if he had a place to stay,” he said. “Ever since, that has been something that he wanted to give back to people, scholars, so that they don’t have to — to some extent — experience what he experienced.”
Yalin said finding accommodations is one of the biggest worries Turkish scholars face when arriving in the U.S., and typically by the time they get settled, it is time to go back home. This project helps researchers and scholars focus on their studies from the moment they arrive, and at a lesser cost, he explained.
Rendering of the Sancar Scholars Residence located at Velma Road (Image via Gurlitz Architectural).
Located behind the STCCC, the two-story residence will include eight rooms, two shared common spaces, a kitchen, and laundry. In addition to being close to campus, Yalin said residents will also be able to easily use the community center’s facilities, resources, and library during their stay. The SSR will also feature contemporary Turkish architecture and will be operated by AGSF.
Construction for the SSR began in May, with an official groundbreaking ceremony last August 30, which is Turkey’s Victory Day, Yalin said. The residence is set to open next year, and while an opening date has not been chosen, he said it will likely also correspond with a significant date in Turkish culture.
View of the Sancar Scholars Residence from E. Franklin Street (Image via Gurlitz Architectural).
The vice chairman described the residence as an upgraded version of Dr. Sancar’s first Turkish House in Chapel Hill. The Carolina Türk Evi opened in 2008 and featured four bedrooms. Yalin said his vision expanded after his 2015 Nobel Prize win to include having both a community center and a residence next to each other. But at the time, there was only enough funding to build the STCCC.
Since opening in 2021, the STCCC has worked to strengthen bonds between Turkey and the U.S. by fostering a deeper understanding of Turkish culture. The center hosts a variety of cultural events, like cooking classes and holiday celebrations, and it is set to host its first ever craft fair on November 23. By supporting Turkish scholars, Yalin said the soon-to-be-completed SSR will only help expand that goal.
Yalin said there has always been a lot of support for Dr. Sancar’s dream from the Turkish people. In addition to his Nobel Prize winnings, most of the funding for both projects has come by way of sponsors and small donations, he explained. Almost like alumni, he said, graduates who have stayed at the former Türk Evi both travel the country and return to Turkey telling of the STCCC and the Turkish House.
“And every day, almost, I get a [message like], ‘Hey, can I come and stay at the Turkish House,’ which we don’t have at the moment,” Yalin said. “But that is helping to carry the message of the center, our mission, which is to help Americans understand the Turkish culture.”
The board’s vice chairman said the residence will be advertised in Turkey, especially in academic centers. Word-of-mouth about Dr. Sancar’s vision has already been an asset for the center, and he said he hopes it will be the same for the residence.
“Because Dr. Sancar is now a hero. He cannot even walk in the street without people just trying to grab at him, so he’s that popular. He’s even on the stamps,” Yalin said. “I’ve taken him to my home country, Cyprus, and we’re on top of a mountain and out of the blue, people recognize him. They said ‘Dr. Sancar, we were looking for you in the sky and we found you on Earth’ kind of thing. He is that popular.”
Yalin added Turkish scholars have visited North Carolina for decades, citing UNC, Duke, and NC State as top schools. He said they often end up settling here, and the residence is a way to ease that transition, while also contributing to a scientific community that benefits the U.S., Turkey, and the broader world.
“We want to give back,” Yalin said. “Back to home, back to the United States. After all, we’re also considered to be Americans.”
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