Faculty Profile: Giray Ökten
By: Reagan Creamer
Nearing fifteen years at Florida State University, Dr. Giray Ökten currently serves as the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies and as a Professor within the Department of Mathematics. During his time at FSU, he has been able to bring new courses to the department, and take on a variety of positions.
In middle and high school, Dr. Ökten found his love for mathematics.
"Math always felt natural to me," he explains. "I was interested in physics too, and it never came natural to me, but math always did."
Growing up in Turkey, Dr. Ökten opted to attend Bogazici University in Istanbul. During his first two years of college, he had his sights set on an engineering major. Ultimately, he decided that a bachelor's degree in mathematics would suit him best and graduated from the university in 1991.
Following graduation, Dr. Ökten traveled to the United States of America to attend Claremont Graduate University in California. With his sister, a fellow professor, living in Los Angeles and previous travel experiences, he found himself at home and enjoyed living in Claremont. By 1994, he earned his Master of Arts in Mathematics, and in 1997, he graduated with his PhD in Mathematics.
Upon completing his PhD, Dr. Ökten moved to Fairbanks, Alaska where he served as a visiting assistant professor at the University of Alaska for one academic year. In 1998, he started at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, as an assistant professor, a position he held for seven consecutive years.
In 2005, Dr. Ökten joined the Department of Mathematics at Florida State University, where he started as an Associate Professor. The department's Financial Mathematics Program and PhD programs were what initially made him interested in FSU.
"As a mathematician, I love what I am doing. As a teacher, the thing I love most is working with my students." Giray Ökten
"My own research is on Monte Carlo simulations, which is like applied probability," he offers. "Many of those methods are heavily applied in financial mathematics."
Since starting at FSU, Dr. Ökten has been heavily involved with the Financial Mathematics Program, creating courses such as "Monte Carlo Methods in Financial Mathematics." He has also created an undergraduate elective course in applied math, titled "Stochastic Models and Computing." He later became the program's director in 2008, a position he maintained until 2012. In the same year, he became the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies and was named Professor in 2013, two positions he continues to hold.
As the Associate Chair, one of Dr. Ökten's largest responsibilities is recruiting students to join the Department of Mathematics.
"I try to find good students who are going to excel in this department," he remarks. "When I talk to prospective students about our program, I tell them 'we have quite an intellectual diversity in the program.''"
When explaining why students should choose FSU, Dr. Ökten references the vibrant student body, respected faculty, and the department's distinctive structure as key factors.
Dr. Ökten poses with the photos on
display in his office. These photos include
his current and former PhD students,
as well as his own PhD advisor.
"I think our graduate program is pretty unique in the sense that it has these four different areas," he states. "A student who starts an area, such as bio math or financial math, will be taking courses specifically designed and selected for that area. Each area has its own choice of qualifiers. Every area is structured in such a way so that students can learn the most important topics in that area, hopefully encouraging them to start their research as early as possible."
All four graduate programs within the department have their own directors and faculty. Students are able to gain advice and knowledge from multiple resources, ultimately preparing them to begin their own research.
"Research is something a mathematician will be doing eventually," Dr. Ökten suggests. "Writing a PhD dissertation is about doing a significant piece of research. In order to do that, you have to learn the tools and topics you need to bring you to a certain level of maturity so that you can generate new knowledge. We've structured our programs in such a way so that students can learn what they need early on."
In addition to recruitment and program structuring, Dr. Ökten also focuses on coordinating and advising students. Helping students successfully complete their programs and preparing them for the outside world are some of his top priorities.
"Setting up these programs is globally related to what we offer, as a department, to students and what they can do with the tools that they learn after they graduate," he offers.
Another vital aspect of Dr. Ökten's position includes placement. By encouraging students to complete internships, exploring career opportunities, and through inviting various companies to present, Dr. Ökten and his fellow faculty members are able to help students secure jobs for after they graduate.
In addition to serving as the Associate Chair, Dr. Ökten continues to teach two courses a year, including his Monte Carlo class. In both of these roles, he continuously dedicates time and commitment into putting students first, earning him the Graduate Faculty Mentor Award in April of 2019.
"As a mathematician, I love what I am doing," he remarks. "As a teacher, the thing I love most is working with my students. I love classroom teaching, I love everything about my job."
Most recently, Dr. Ökten worked with the Graduate Student Council and graduate student advisors, to organize Graduate Student Research Week. Throughout the week, students participated in two contests: a poster competition and a flash talk competition.
"Working with these students is so much fun," he explains.
During the competition, two of the judges approached Dr. Ökten and expressed how impressed they were with the research the graduate students completed. The success of students is something he finds to be extremely rewarding.
"Every time I hear about a grad student publishing a paper or getting a job, it makes me so happy," he beams.