Turkish & Ottoman Studies Program | Near Eastern Languages & Civilization | University of Washington
Turkey in Seattle : an Oral History Project
Ender was born in Adana in 1953 and grew up in Kadirli. He attended Istanbul Technical University for college and arrived to the United States in 1978 after taking the international test to leave Turkey. He came to America to finish his doctorate, but first went to the Holy Names Academy to study english for about nine and a half months. He married his wife Canan in Philadelphia in 1979 and attended multiple universities across the U.S., and then obtained his ceramic engineering degree at the University of Washington after him and his wife decided to move to Seattle. He has two children, his son being in the air force and his daughter in college. In terms of work, after obtaining his degree he founded Sienna Technologies Inc. in 1990 a ceramic materials manufacturing company. He finds it very important to keep his Turkish culture alive and makes it a priority to speak Turkish at home. Although at first living in the United States was strenuous, he made it work and is thankful for all the opportunities he had.