Prof. Dr. Mehmet Karaca has completed his bachelor’s (1979) and master’s degrees (1981) in Meteorological Engineering at Istanbul Technical University. He received M. Sc. Degree (1985) and Ph.D. (1990) in Atmosphere and Ocean Sciences from University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). He served as Vice-Director at Eurasia Earth Sciences Institute (2001-2002), Board Member of Research Fund (2001-2004) and Head of the Department of Climate and Marine Sciences (2001-present) at ITU. Prof. Dr. Karaca was appointed as Vice-Rector between 2009-2010 and was the founding Rector of ITU NCTR between 2009-2010. Prof. Karaca has taken over the position of ITU Rector in 2012. His main research areas of interest include Atmosphere and Ocean Modelling, Global and Regional Climate Change, Disaster Management and State of Emergency, Air Pollution and Air Quality, Urban Climate. Prof. Dr. Karaca is a member of American Geophysics Association, American Meteorology Society, National Geophraphy Association (USA) and Society for the Protection of Nature.