Prof. Dr. Abdullah Kızılırmak was born on 16 February 1925 in Pınarbaşı, Kayseri. He studied mathematics and astronomy at the Faculty of Science of Ankara University as a scholarship recipient of the Ministry of National Education and graduated in 1947.

Early Professional Appointments

From 1947 to 1952, he taught mathematics and astronomy at Antakya High School and Ankara Atatürk High School. On 20 August 1952, he was appointed as an assistant at the Institute of Astronomy of the Faculty of Science, Ankara University.

Overseas Research and Doctoral Training

Winning a scholarship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, he worked at the Königstuhl Observatory of Heidelberg University in Germany from 22 September 1954 to 21 March 1956. On 29 April 1957, he earned his Doctor of Science degree with a thesis titled “An Objective Method for Measuring the Daily Quantity of Meteoritic Dust.”

In 1959, he completed a six-month internship at Carl Zeiss on observational instruments.

Academic Titles and Positions at Ankara University

He was appointed associate professor on 22 June 1961. Between 1952 and 1963, he conducted teaching and research activities at the Astronomy Chair of the Faculty of Science, Ankara University. He played a role in the establishment of the Ankara University Observatory.

Work at Ege University

On 7 January 1963, he moved to the Faculty of Science at Ege University. In the same year, he founded and assumed leadership of the Astronomy Chair at Ege University. In 1965, he established the Ege University Observatory. The establishment of the observatory benefited from various donations obtained from abroad, and the first observation was conducted on the night of 22 June 1965 on variable stars.

Academic Administrative Roles

• In 1966, he was promoted to professor.
• From 1966 to 1981, he served as Head of the Department of Astronomy and Space Sciences at the Faculty of Science, Ege University.
• From 1975 to 1976, he served as founding dean of the Faculty of Science at Fırat University.
• From 1976 to 1981, he served two terms as Dean of the Faculty of Science at Ege University.

Scientific Research and Publications

• Abdullah Kızılırmak conducted research on meteorites, the rotation of the Milky Way, and variable stars. He published a total of 25 scientific papers, which received 62 citations in the Science Citation Index.
• To contribute to the development of scientific terminology in Turkish, he authored textbooks titled “Logarithms and Number Tables,” “Spherical Astronomy,” “The Solar System,” “Celestial Mechanics,” and “Introduction to Astrophysics,” as well as a star atlas.
• In 1969, he compiled the “Dictionary of Astronomical Terms,” published by the Turkish Language Association.
• Between 1961 and 1969, he wrote 87 articles on astronomical terms for the Turkish Encyclopedia.
• He was one of the founders of the journal Fen Dergisi and served on its editorial board from 1965 to 1971.
• Throughout his academic career, he supervised a total of 22 graduate studies, including 14 master’s theses and 8 doctoral dissertations.

Personal Life

In 1957, he married Rümeysa Kızılırmak and had two children.

Later Years and Death

In 1981, while serving as Dean of the Faculty of Science at Ege University, he was removed from his position by the then military administration. He died on 4 December 1983.

In 1996, he was posthumously awarded the TÜBİTAK Service Award.