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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
ASLIHAN NURİ
President
Aslıhan Nuri is originally from Adana, Türkiye. She has been in the US since 2000. Aslıhan holds a Bachelors in Engineering and an MBA degree in International Business. She currently works for the University of Maryland, Baltimore as Director of Contracts and Grants. Previously she worked for Johns Hopkins International as an International Patient Coordinator and helped European and Turkish patients who traveled to US for their healthcare needs. Aslıhan was elected as MATA's President in April 2023 after serving as a Director.
MÜGE TÜRKMAN
Vice President
Müge Turkman is originally from Izmir, Türkiye and currently resides in Baltimore. She holds a Civil Engineering degree and works for Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration as a Project Manager. Müge has been volunteering for many non-profit organizations in both the US and Türkiye. She is currently serving her second term as the Vice President of MATA.
ORHAN SULEIMAN
Treasurer
Orhan H. Suleiman is a first generation Turkish American, whose family immigrated from Cyprus. He was born in New York City. Orhan has served on the Board of Directors continuously since the mid-70’s, except for a 4 year period (2014-2018). In 2018 he was asked to get back on the board, and has since been the Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee.
JOSEPH MILLER
Secretary
Joseph Miller has been a member of MATA on and off for several decades based on where he has lived. He currently lives in Annapolis and has a doctorate in Clinical Psychology. His late wife was Turkish, and he has had a longstanding interest in Turkish American relations. In the late 1960’s, he helped establish a Masters program in Psychology at Hacettepe University in Ankara. Now retired, he spends several months each year in Turkey, keeping in touch with friends and former students. As MATA's new Secretary, he envisions helping MATA reach out to Turkish students and promoting Turkish-American interests.
MURAT NURİ
Director
Murat Nuri is from Baltimore, Maryland. He holds a bachelor’s degree in History. He is currently a business analyst for a federal government contractor. Murat’s parents were one of the founding members of MATA. Murat previously served as MATA's President, and continues to serve as a Director and member of the Finance Committee for MATA.
TİMUR EDİB
Director
As a civic leader, Timur is currently serving his second term on the Western Montgomery County (Maryland) Citizens Advisory Board as a business representative to the County Executive and Council. He has been a leader in the Turkish American community for over 30 years, serving as President of the Atatürk Society of America, Treasurer of the ATAA, President of TAA-Arizona, TAA-Central Pennsylvania, and MATA. He also served on the Boards of ATA-DC, TAFSUS, and as legal counsel to TASSA and the Turkish Women’s Association. Timur recently ran for the Montgomery County Board of Education, and previously served as an Education Commissioner in Phoenix, Arizona.
Timur Edib has been practicing immigration law, with a focus on business immigration, for almost 25 years and also serves as General Counsel to Bay Atlantic University in Washington, DC. Timur also runs his own real estate brokerage and investment firm in Maryland, and serves on the Board of Turkish Coffee Lady, Inc.
ABIGAIL BOWMAN
Director
Originally from Johnston, Iowa, Abigail Bowman graduated from Princeton University in 2011 with a BA in Near Eastern studies. She then moved to Istanbul, Türkiye, where she completed a Fulbright Scholarship at Boğaziçi University to translate modern Turkish literature into English. After earning an MA in history at Sabancı University in 2014, Abigail returned to the US and began her career in federal government. She now works for NASA as the agency's Web Modernization Lead. Abigail lives in Silver Spring with her husband Mert and son Sinan, and joined MATA in January 2022 to connect with other Turkish-American families in the area.
