Prof. Dr. Umut Yanardağ is a faculty member in the Department of Social Work at Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University (MAKÜ), Turkey, where he has been teaching since 2018.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Hacettepe University (2008), a Master’s degree in Human Rights from Maltepe University (2013), and a PhD in Social Work from Hacettepe University (2017). He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2020 and to full Professor in 2026.

Before entering academia, he worked for a decade as a clinical social worker in public health and child welfare institutions across Ankara, Istanbul, and Burdur — an experience that continues to ground his research in lived professional practice.

His scholarly interests span digital social services, child welfare with a focus on foster care, ecological social work, group work practice, and migration. A trained co-psychodramatist, he integrates experiential and action-based methods into both his teaching and professional development work.

Since 2024, he has been developing innovative digital tools for the social work profession through his company Digital Social Services (DSS), based at MAKÜ BAKA Technopolis.

Beyond the university, he produces Sosyal Hizmet TV — a YouTube channel dedicated to social work in Turkey — and hosts the Sosyal Çalışma Podcast. He coordinates the Köy Üniversitesi (Village University) project and provides consultancy to civil society organizations at the national level.

He is currently pursuing a degree in Music Technology at the State Conservatory of Turkish Music at MAKÜ. He is an avid chess player and cinephile. He lives in Burdur with his wife and daughter.