Faces of NLU: Alper Turan

For Alper Turan, leadership isn't just about running colleges—it's about changing lives. As a doctoral candidate in NLU's Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership program, Alper has witnessed firsthand how the right leaders can transform institutions and help students thrive, while the wrong approaches leave them behind.

"I've seen it with my own eyes: the right leaders don't just run colleges—they change lives," Alper explains. "I watched good policies fail and great ones soar, all because of leadership that either centers students or forgets them."

His motivation is clear and powerful. After years working in student services, Alper saw that reforms succeed or fail almost entirely because of leadership—specifically, whether leaders intentionally align institutional structures with student realities. He chose the Higher Education Leadership program to gain the knowledge and credibility needed to transform entire systems so that all students feel they belong and can succeed.

When searching for the right doctoral program, Alper found exactly what he needed at NLU. The Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership is explicitly designed for working practitioners, with a strong focus on applied research and real-world change in community college systems. The cohort model and faculty with direct community college experience convinced him he'd be surrounded by mentors who truly understand the challenges he wants to solve.

Learn More About NLU’s Ed.D. in Educational Leadership

"The program's emphasis on producing scholar-practitioners who can immediately implement evidence-based solutions sealed it," Alper says. "This is where I can turn my frontline experience into system-wide impact."

When describing NLU in one word, Alper chooses "Practical." During his first residency, every reading, discussion, and assignment immediately connected to the real-world challenges he faces daily—from assessing student success to leadership decision-making. Unlike purely theoretical programs, NLU's classes felt like working sessions with colleagues and faculty who've actually led campuses, giving him tools he could use the very next Monday back at work.

One experience at NLU fundamentally shifted Alper's perspective. During a cohort case-study discussion on gateway-course achievement gaps, he shared his own campus data. Instead of defaulting to solutions focused on student support, the group and professor challenged him to trace disparities back to leadership routines—examining who controls agendas, whose voices are silenced, and how power flows in meetings.

"That single conversation permanently shifted my lens: achievement gaps are not student deficits but leadership failures," Alper reflects. "It transformed my practice, research, and dissertation focus, turning me from a frontline fixer into a scholar-leader focused on systemic change."

He also recalls a powerful moment with one of his professors when he presented his campus's troubling achievement gap data. The professor stopped everything and asked directly: "Alper, whose leadership choices created these?" What followed was a 30-minute live coaching session that flipped his entire perspective. "That raw, real-time moment is NLU," he says. "Your struggle becomes the lesson, and faculty ignite the breakthrough."

Learn More About NLU’s Graduate School of Business and Leadership

Alper's career aspiration is to become a community college president or system-level chief academic officer, leading transformation in urban districts. Currently finishing his dissertation and hoping to graduate by Fall 2026, he's moving from fixing one campus to leading entire systems where every student experiences leadership that sees them, supports them, and helps them succeed.

His advice for prospective NLU students? "If you're a working professional who wants a doctorate that actually makes you better at your job tomorrow, NLU is the place. The work is intense, but every assignment solves real problems you already face. You'll have classmates who get it and faculty who've lived it. Keep your 'why' close, lean on your cohort, and trust the process—you absolutely belong here and you've got this."

Alper Turan's story exemplifies the NLU mission: transforming practitioners into scholar-leaders who drive meaningful change in their communities. We're proud to spotlight him as part of our Faces of NLU series.