ECE Chair Sennur Ulukus Named to Turkish Science Academy

Distinguished University Professor and ECE Chair Sennur Ulukus has been inducted into the Turkish Science Academy. This honor recognizes the breadth of her research in information theory, wireless communications, signal processing and networking, specifically, her seminal contributions in physical layer security, energy harvesting communications, private information retrieval, and freshness of information.

Founded in 2011, the Turkish Science Academy (Bilim Akademisi) is an independent non-governmental organization to promote, practice and uphold the principles of scientific merit, freedom and integrity.

Professor Ulukus joined the ECE Department in 2001 and has held the position of Department Chair since 2022. She holds the Anthony Ephremides Professorship in Information Sciences and Systems and has a joint appointment with the Institute of Systems Research (ISR). She previously held the position of Associate Chair for Graduate Studies, and co-founded the Professional Master’s Program in Machine Learning.

As a world-renowned researcher in her field, Professor Ulukus been the recipient of numerous awards, including, most recently, the IEEE Communications Society Communication Theory Technical Committee Achievement Award, the IEEE International Conference on Communications Best Paper Award, and the IEEE Communications Society Women in Communications Engineering Outstanding Achievement Award.

She was named a University of Maryland Distinguished University Professor in 2023 and a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher in 2016. She was appointed IEEE Fellow in 2016 for “contributions to characterizing performance limits of wireless networks”. As an active participant in IEEE, she has served as editor on multiple publications.

Ulukus received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey and her Ph.D. from Rutgers University in New Jersey. Prior to joining ECE, she was a Senior Technical Staff Member at AT&T Labs Research.

Published February 17, 2026