Founder of MEF Education Institutions was born in the village of Salur in the province of Yozgat in 1941. He was accepted into Mimar Sinan School of Elementary Teacher Education after passing the entry exam. Because of his diligence and success in school, he was selected to attend Ankara School of Higher Teacher Education. In 1968, he graduated from the school of Higher Teacher Education and at the same time he graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Science, Department of Physics and Mathematics. Between 1968-1971, he worked as a research assistant in the Department of Physics at Yıldız Technical University in Istanbul.

In 1972,  Dr. İbrahim Arıkan founded the first  institution of university preparation cources in Turkey, MEF DERSHANELERİ (Modern Education Science). In 1982, Dr. Arıkan established Yurtiçi Kargo, the first cargo company of Turkey. Putting all his companies together under one roof of Arıkanlı Holding on February 11, 1996, our founder Dr. İbrahim Arıkan worked selflessly for the welfare of society and our economy by investing in areas such as education, communication, energy, transport, logistics, industry and construction.

In order to create a new model of education system for Turkey, our founder studied the education systems in a variety of countries over eight years. Dr. Arıkan, as a veteran educator, was devoted to Atatürk’s principles and reforms. He founded MEF National and International Schools in Istanbul in 1996 to educate the young generation with the skills needed for the 21st century. In 2012, he established MEF University with the same aim.

Dr. İbrahim Arıkan, as a successful entrepreneur, became a leader in a variety of industrial and service sectors by pioneering in establishing companies, systems and brands in the business world.

On May 14, 2001, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in Business and Science by the consensus of the senate of the European University of Lefke in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. On May 22, 2009, he received an honorary doctorate degree in Humanities from Roger Williams University, a prestigious university in the United States of America.

Apart from his articles in a variety of magazines and newspapers, Dr. İbrahim Arıkan authored 10 books: Modern Fizik (Modern Physics), Biz Bize (Between Us), Orijinal Fikir Üretme ve Yaratıcılık (Producing Original Ideas and Creativity), Kurum Başarısı İçin (For Corporate Success), Yöneticiye Mektup (Letter to the Manager), Her Durumda Başarmak (Achieving Under All Circumstances), Kriz Önce Haber Verir Sonra Kapıyı Çalar (Crisis First Informs then Knocks on the Door), Tarih Ekonomiyi, Ekonomi Tarihi Oluşturur (History Shapes Economy, Economy Shapes History), Ya Yenilenirsin Ya da Yenilirsin (Either Innovate or Fail), Öğreten Öğretmen (The Teacher Teaching) and Öğrenen Öğrenci (The Student Learning).

Dr. İbrahim Arıkan passed away on February 2, 2016.

A respected teacher devoting his entire life to education, an entrepreneur, environmentalist and scientist, Dr. İbrahim Arıkan succeeded in being a good human under all conditions, and he believed that the world needed goodness more than anything. Dr. İbrahim Arıkan will always be remembered with yearning and respect for the pioneering institutions and organizations he founded in our country, his innovative ideas and the value he gave to education and to humans.