Hakan Altinay is a nonresident senior fellow for global economy and development at Brookings, Washington, DC, and former executive director of the Open Society Foundation-Turkey. In this capacity, he encouraged Turkey's evolution towards a more open society by focusing on European Union accession and the aspirations of the middle class. He helped establish the Independent Commission on Turkey, a high-level body that contributed to the EU's decision to open membership negotiations with Turkey, as well as several think tanks and advocacy groups dedicated to reform agendas in the social, educational and judicial spheres. Previously, Mr. Altinay served as regional director for both the International Research & Exchanges Board and Pathfinder International. He was a fellow at the Salzburg Seminar's Universities Project Symposium on The Impact of Globalization on Higher Education in 2000.