Erdal Arıkan received his BS from the California Institute of Technology in 1981, and his MS and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1982 and 1986, respectively, all in electrical engineering. He held a position as an assistant professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, before joining Bilkent University in 1987, where is currently a professor of electrical engineering. His research interests are in the areas of information theory and coding. He received the 2010 IEEE Information Theory Society Best Paper Award and the 2013 IEEE W. R. G. Baker Award for his work on polar coding. He is an IEEE Fellow and has been designated an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer for 2014-2015.