Prof.Dr. Mustafa İnan
Mustafa İnan was born on August 24, 1911, in Adana. Due to the French occupation during the Turkish War of Independence, he, along with his family, migrated to Konya, where they would stay for two and a half years. Mustafa İnan attended Şehit Muhtar Bey School during his time in Konya. After the War of Independence, when they returned to Adana, he completed primary and middle school. In his final year, he passed the “leyli meccani” (free boarding) exam, allowing him to attend a boarding high school in Adana. Known by the nickname “Riyaziyeci Mustafa” at the boarding school, İnan graduated as the top student in 1931.
Due to his family’s poor financial situation, Mustafa İnan initially enrolled in the Faculty of Science to quickly enter professional life. However, with the intention of becoming a university professor, he withdrew his registration and entered the School of Engineering (now ITU) where he ranked first. İnan graduated from the School of Engineering as the top student and received a government scholarship to pursue a doctorate at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland. There, he conducted research on “Brendel beams” and investigated the photoelasticity of “Brendel-type concrete bridges.” İnan, recognized as the first Turkish scientist to research in the field of photoelasticity, obtained his doctoral degree in 1941. His first article, titled “Kayma Merkezi,” was published in 1943.
In 1944, Mustafa İnan was appointed as an assistant professor of technical mechanics and strength at the Higher School of Engineering, which was renamed “Istanbul Technical University” in the same year. He became a professor in 1945. İnan was among the founding members of the Turkish Mathematical Society established in 1948. In the 1950s, he established the Photoelasticity Laboratory at ITU and served as the head of the Chair of Technical Mechanics and General Strength (1946–1954), Dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering (1954–1956), and Rector (1957–1959). He became the youngest dean and rector of his time. His success in leadership was recognized with the “Grand Ufficale” title awarded by the Italian government in 1957. Despite offers to become the Undersecretary of Technical Education and later the Minister of Public Works, he did not accept these positions as he remained committed to his academic career. Prof. Dr. Mustafa İnan served on the scientific board of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) from its establishment in 1963 until his passing.
Between 1959 and 1964, during the years when the first artificial satellites were being launched, Mustafa İnan started publishing several articles, beginning with his paper titled “Some Results on the Orbit Calculations of Artificial Satellites.” In 1961, he introduced the concept of “Carry-over Matrix” in his article “Carry-over Matrix in Elasto-Mechanics,” becoming one of the first researchers globally to work on the carry-over matrix problem. He taught various courses at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at ITU and gave lectures at Middle East Technical University on this topic.
Mustafa İnan, who had a keen interest in literature from his early years, memorized poems of classical Ottoman Turkish poets since his elementary school days. He delved into the study of words and meanings in Turkish as well as Persian, Hebrew, Greek, and Arabic. Mustafa İnan has an article titled “Dil ve Matematik” (Language and Mathematics) where he explores the relationship between language and mathematics.
Mustafa İnan, tasked with scientific and professional research in the United States, Switzerland, and Germany starting from September 1, 1967, for a period of six months. However, he passed away in the early hours of August 5, 1967, at a hospital in Freiburg, where he had gone for the treatment of a recurring and undiagnosed illness. Mustafa İnan’s funeral took place on August 10, 1967, following a ceremony at the Istanbul Technical University’s Taşkışla building, and he was laid to rest in the Zincirlikuyu Cemetery.
Four years after his passing, the TÜBİTAK Science Board decided to award the 1971 TÜBİTAK Service Award to Mustafa İnan during its meeting on August 9. Additionally, his name was given to the İTÜ Central Library, and a viaduct on the Istanbul-Ankara highway was named in his honor.
*This biography was compiled by our board member Özkan Değer for the booklet “TMD 75 Yılın Ardından,” prepared on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Turkish Mathematical Society.