Hursit Calika

Hursit Calika’s affection for American University isn’t the result of his time on campus as a student, attending classes and working in an internship at a local agency or company. His college years were spent in his native Turkey, where he attended the University of Political Science in Ankara and did postgraduate work at the University of Istanbul. “My first visit to Washington, D.C., took place in 1950 when I came here for training at the IRS in the Civil Service Commission,” says Calika. “I liked the lifestyle and the people here immediately.

When he returned to D.C. in 1954 as an economist with the World Bank he made his home here.

Calika’s interest in American University developed during the years he lived on Alton Place, several blocks from campus. From that venue, he could easily observe the various ways AU served the community, not just as a place of higher learning, but as a cultural center that opens its doors to people of all ages and backgrounds. “I was a neighbor from 1957 to 1973, and that initially connected me to the university,” he says Calika. “But my high regard for AU really grew as I came to appreciate the university’s orientation to the private sector and the quality education provided by the business school. I was especially interested in its focus on public and private finance.”

When his grandson Behcet graduated with a degree in economics (CAS ’97), it brought Hursit “great pleasure.” Shortly after this graduation, Calika established the Hursit Calika Scholarship, funding the endowed scholarship in 2001 by giving the university the deeds to two condominiums. The proceeds generated by this gift are  designed primarily to help students from Turkey who major in economics or business, covering such expenses as courses, books, and research. “I wanted to provide some means for future students to receive their education,” says Calika. “As I looked around the room during the scholarship luncheon, it was gratifying to see so many young people who were going to benefit from the generosity of those who had gone before them.”

-by David Hogge,  originally published in American magazine Fall 2004