Bulu was appointed as the rector of Boğaziçi University by government decree on 1 January 2021. His appointment was controversial and subject to protests by hundreds of students, professors, and lecturers, and by NGOs. These protests occurred due to undemocratic nature of the appointment. The enactment that granted the right to appoint university rectors to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was given to him during a now abolished state of emergency following the 2016 coup d'état attempt. The nature of his appointment, caused Melih Bulu to become known as "Kayyum Rektor" (Trustee Rector). He was eventually removed from his position by a decree from Erdoğan on 15 July 2021. Prior to his position at Boğaziçi University, he was the rector of İstinye University and Haliç University and held faculty positions at Istanbul Commerce University and Istanbul Şehir University.