Akif Baha Balantekin is an American and Turkish physicist. He is currently the Chairman of the Department of Physics at the University of
Wisconsin.

He earned his bachelor's degree in physics from Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey in 1975 and received a Ph.D. from Yale University in the U.S. in 1982.

Balantekin is currently the Eugene P. Wigner Professor of Physics, Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, since 2004. He has been in Madison, WI since 1986. Prior to this he was the Eugene P. Wigner Fellow at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

His honors include Fellow, Institute of Physics, 2004;
TUBITAK Science Prize in Physics, 2001;
Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Mid-Career Award, 1997;
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Senior Scientist Award, 1996;
Fellow, American Physical Society, 1994;
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Senior Fellow, 1994;
National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award, 1987;
Martin Marietta Corporation Jefferson Cup Award, 1986;
Martin Marietta Energy Systems Author of the Year, 1986;
Martin Marietta Energy Systems Publications Award, 1986; and
Francis E. Loomis Fellow, Yale University, 1978.