Sancar’s total prize money exceeds $310,000, one-third of the total prize amount. The two other winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry were Duke’s Paul Modrich and Tomas Lindahl of the Francis Crick Institute.

Sancar, who is from Turkey and has been a professor at UNC-Chapel Hill since 1982, and his wife Gwen – also a UNC-Chapel Hill professor – bought a house on Franklin Street near downtown Chapel Hill several years ago as part of their foundation. The goal was to create a cultural center close to campus, an idea that dates back to Sancar’s days as a graduate student who came from Turkey.

“The day I stepped off the airplane in Dallas, I essentially saw the need for such houses on college campuses and promised myself to eventually dedicate my resources to a project of this kind.”

The cultural center is named “Carolina Turk Evi,” and is owned by the Aziz & Gwen Sancar Foundation. The center provides graduate housing for Turkish researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill, as well as short-term guest services for Turkish visiting scholars. UNC currently hosts approximately 100 Turkish students and scholars. These individuals occasionally have difficulty adapting to American culture. One aim of Carolina Turk Evi is to facilitate their transition.

Another key aim of the foundation is to promote a cultural exchange between Turkey and the United States.

“I believe strongly that we are all more similar than we are different,” Sancar said. “If we take the time or have the opportunity to learn about one another – to promote friendship and understanding – then we won’t have as many conflicts in our personal lives or between nations.”

As part of the Nobel Prize ceremonies last week, Sancar was given a Nobel Prize medal and three replica medals. He donated the original medal to Turkey to be displayed at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of Republic of Turkey and the country’s first president.

“I give credit to Ataturk for creating an educational system that would allow a kid from a small, rural place to receive a quality education, go to medical school, and pursue research at the highest level,” Sancar said. “I gave the medal to the mausoleum to honor this and to hopefully inspire the youth of Turkey who might wonder what they can accomplish in science if they work hard.”

Published December 19, 2015.