Yılmaz Büyükerşen is currently the Lord Mayor of the Greater Eskişehir Municipality and has chaired the Turkish Delegation of the European Council Local Authorities for 5 years. Previously, he served as the Rector of Anadolu University in Eskişehir for eleven years. He is widely recognized as the founder and architect of Turkey’s Open Education Faculty that currently delivers college education to a student body of 800,000 in Turkey and Western Europe. Professor Büyükerşen also served as the President of the Higher Advisory Council of the Turkish Radio and Television between the years 1985-1993. He has been the recipient of many honorary awards both in Turkey and abroad. Prof Büyükerşen is a graduate of the Eskişehir Academy of Economics and Commercial Sciences and received his PhD in Public Finance.