[1] He is best remembered for his work to develop Middle East Technical University (Turkish: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, ODTÜ), build a distinctive campus for it and create a forest in what was arid, eroding land.

At the same time, he initiated archeological excavations, led the effort to salvage historical artifacts and monuments from flooding by the Keban Dam and supported the publication of findings that throw light on the Neolithic revolution.

Throughout his life, despite extensive travels and periods living on different continents, Kurdaş maintained a deep affection for Bursa, drawn to its historical bridges and the vistas of Uludağ, known in ancient times as Olympos.

Kemal Kurdaş pursued his higher education at the Faculty of Political Science, Ankara University, where he spent considerable time in the library honing his English reading skills.

This self-directed study inadvertently led him to explore contemporary economic theories, notably encountering the works of John Maynard Keynes at a foreign-language bookstore in Istanbul.

The new government's economic strategies, particularly the removal of longstanding import controls and maintaining an overvalued Turkish lira, led to a severe depletion of Turkey's foreign currency reserves.

Instead, Menderes opted to sustain the trade deficits through foreign loans and aid, which exacerbated the country's debt and facilitated a system of crony capitalism and widespread corruption.

Disillusioned by the government's economic management and the social repercussions of its policies, including state-sanctioned looting that targeted minority communities, Kurdaş's dissent grew.

His subsequent role as president of the Middle East Technical University in Ankara was driven by his commitment to educational excellence, aiming to solve Turkey's challenges through academic advancement.

Middle East Technical University (METU) was founded in 1956 as an institute dedicated to training engineers, architects, and other professionals to support Turkey's economic development.

Initially small and housed in temporary buildings near Ankara's parliamentary complex, the university was given a large tract of land about 40 kilometers outside the city, although early attempts to develop this site were unsuccessful.

The allocated land, featuring Lake Eymir and largely barren hills, was part of an area historically covered by forests in the 15th century before human activity led to deforestation and erosion.

Notable features of the design included pedestrian paths reminiscent of traditional Turkish town streets and modernist concrete buildings influenced by Ottoman and Anatolian village styles.

In January 1969, an incident involving the burning of American ambassador Robert Komer's car by students led to the university's closure for a month, and Kurdaş left his position later that year.

Alongside his business career, Kurdaş continued to cultivate his interests in economics and history, a passion that dated back to his childhood observations of historic structures in Bursa and Istanbul.

The ongoing construction of dams along the Euphrates continued to challenge archaeologists, who extended their salvage operations throughout the region historically known as Isuwa by the Hittites, uncovering settlements dating back to the Paleolithic era.

[16] The discoveries at Göbekli Tepe, led by archaeologist Klaus Schmidt, suggested that temple construction might have precipitated the development of complex agricultural societies—a theory that reverses previous archaeological assumptions.

[17] Kurdaş's commitment to promoting these historical insights extended to his plans to fund a series of books in English about the Neolithic findings in Turkey, to assert Anatolia's place as a cradle of civilization.

[20] In a memorial speech, his son Osman Kurdaş encapsulated his father's diverse legacy, which included impactful policy publications, the fostering of a top-tier university, environmental contributions through extensive forestation, support of Turkish industry, the curation of significant archaeological exhibits, and the cultivation of an ethos of tolerance and open-mindedness.