Prof. Dr. Halil İnalcık is one of the world-renowned scholars our country has produced. Over his years in academic life, İnalcık earned a respected place not only in Türkiye but in many countries around the world. After retiring from Ankara University's Faculty of Languages, History and Geography (DTCF), his professorship at the University of Chicago opened a new period of work for him. The History department he founded at Bilkent University in 1993 enabled him to spend the most productive phase of his academic life in his own country. The fact that the works he wrote over these 75 years were outstanding not only in number but also in scholarly quality brought him a level of fame and prestige few scholars could ever attain and, more importantly, allowed him to train students who would carry on his school of thought.
He carried out research in many parts of the world at a level that gave rise to what is recognised as the Halil İnalcık school. His distinctive working method, his scholarly impartiality and his thorough command of the literature in the languages he knew are among his most notable qualities. In recognition of his work to date, he was awarded honorary doctorates by 22 different universities. İnalcık was also listed by the International Biographical Centre of Cambridge among the world's select 2,000 scholars in the field of social sciences, and was elected a member of the Turkish, American, British, Serbian and Albanian academies. Being awarded the King Faisal Prize in 2011, regarded as the Nobel Prize of the Islamic world, crowned his scholarly standing alongside his earlier memberships of academies abroad. He also bears the titles "Şeyh-ül Müverrihin", that is, "Doyen of Historians", and "Kut'ül Müverrihin".
İnalcık continues to make valuable contributions to Turkish historiography through the students he has trained as well.
Prof. Dr. Halil İnalcık passed away on 26 July 2016.