In Memory of Professor Gönül Uçele (1942-2025)

Gönül Uçele was among the first research assistants at Hacettepe University’s English Language and Literature Department, established by Prof. Emel Doğramacı in 1966. She received her PhD with a dissertation entitled The Conflict Between Illusion and Reality in O’Neill’s Latest Plays in 1969. Her associate professorship thesis was on Jerome Lawrence’s and Robert E. Lee’s work, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail. In 1982, she was a founding member of Hacettepe University’s American Literature Department. From 1984 to 2000, she was the chair of the department, which was later renamed the Department of American Culture and Literature. Under her leadership, the faculty and the student body flourished. In addition to offering classes and guiding MA and PhD students, she wrote numerous articles, attended national and international conferences, and supported ASAT’s endeavors to create networks beyond Turkey. Gönül Uçele continued to teach after she retired from Hacettepe in 2000. Her last post was at İstanbul Aydın University, where she taught until the Fall of 2024, only a semester before she passed away.