Prof. Havva Funda Yağcı Acar received her BS and MS degrees in Chemistry from Boğaziçi University in 1993 and 1995, respectively. She received her Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, in 1999. She worked at the General Electric Company Global Research Center at Niskayuna between 2000-2004 working on high-heat plastics and diagnostic nanoparticles until she joined Koç University-Chemistry Department in 2004. She acted as the lead scientist for the development of Nano diagnostics for GE GRC and on the translation of batch reactions to production plants. She joined KU Chemistry Department in 2004. She has done pioneering research on colloidal particles including quantum dots, magnetic and metallic nanoparticles, and worked on their application as theranostics, in phototherapy, drug delivery and imaging, as well as sensors and in optical authentication of valuable products. She is the co-founder of KUANTAG A.Ş. She published more than 100 papers, has 13 patents, and supervised 25 graduate students supported by various national, international, and industrial research funds. She has received L`Oreal Women in Science Reward in Materials Science (2008), Best Koç group in Building Partnership (2015), Elginkan Foundation Technology Reward (2016) and the Outstanding Faculty Reward (2018). She acted as the head of the core program revision team (2010) shaping the university's academic landscape. She has been serving as the Dean of the College of Science since January 2022 and as the Vice President of Academic Affairs since January 2024.