​Dr. Cengiz PAŞAOĞLU has been serving as the Deputy Director General and Board Member of the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMI) since October 30, 2022. Prior to this role, he was elected as founding member of the Personal Data Protection Authority by the decision of the Turkish Grand National Assembly in 2016 and undertook significant responsibilities in this capacity from 2016 to 2022.

Dr. PAŞAOĞLU began his professional career in 2002 as an Air Traffic Controller within DHMI, successfully completing his Air Traffic Control course as the top graduate. He served in this role for five years at Ankara ACC before transitioning to the R&D Department of Air Traffic Management (ATM) at DHMI's General Directorate, where he contributed to numerous national and international R&D projects. In 2014, he was appointed as the Deputy Head of the Electronics Department at DHMI, a position he held until the end of 2016.

He received his BSc degree from Gazi University, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, and his MSc and PhD degrees from the Institute of Science, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, respectively. Later stages of his education, he gave lectures as visiting professor at Istanbul Technical University and Gazi University. In addition, he received the Boeing Academic Award in 2018, granted through the ITU-Boeing partnership, for young academics conducting impactful research in the field of aviation.

After serving as the founding Vice President of SOCEA (The Regional Air Navigation Safety and Coordination Platform for European and Asian Air Navigation Service Providers), Dr. PAŞAOĞLU is currenting serving as the President of the organization. In 2024, he was elected Vice President of the Provisional Council (PC), the highest decision-making body of EUROCONTROL. He also represents Türkiye as the board member of EUROCONTROL's NMB (Network Management Board). Dr. PAŞAOĞLU actively participates in CANSO's EC3 (CEO group), contributing to idea generation and decision-making processes. Additionally, he serves as the president of Dhmispor Club.

Dr. PAŞAOĞLU, who has published various articles in conferences and journals, is fluent in English. He is married and has two children.