İlker Altinoglu was born June 10, 1949, in Salihli, Turkey, and died unexpectedly in Arlington, Virginia on February 22, 2024, at age 74. He moved to Arlington in 2018 to be close to his son Levent.

İlker earned degrees in mechanical engineering from Boğaziçi University and the University of Colorado Boulder, then a doctorate in economics from Hacettepe University in Ankara. He married Feza Tüzün in 1978, and the couple lived in Sydney, Australia and later Scottsdale, Arizona, raising two sons. After Feza died in a car accident in 2002, İlker published a book of poems in Turkish dedicated to her memory.

Those who knew İlker remembered his sincere kindness, warm smile, and quiet integrity. An avid reader with a lifelong passion for learning, he spent much of his time immersed in moral and political philosophy and loved a good discussion about social issues and human nature. His grandchildren brought him great joy in his final years.

He is survived by his sons, Erhan and Levent, their spouses, his grandchildren, and his sister İmrel.