Leading Russian Scientist to Discuss Status of Russian Science

PULLMAN, Wash. — Leading Russian scientist Vladimir Fortov will discuss the status of
Russian science and scientists in an address at Washington State University Oct. 25. The
lecture, entitled “Russian Science: Falling on an Upward Escalator,” is slated for the Compton
Union Building’s Junior Ballroom at 4 p.m.
One of the leading world authorities on high-pressure physics and shock waves, Fortov was
formerly minister for science and technologies of the Russian Federation from 1996 to 1998. He
served as chair of the Russian Foundation for Natural Sciences from 1994 to 1996. Currently, he
is director of the Scientific Center for High Energy Density Physics, Institute for High
Temperatures and vice-president of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Fortov is visiting WSU at the invitation of Yogendra Gupta, director of the Institute for
Shock Physics. “Academician Fortov is uniquely qualified to discuss the status of Russian
science and the challenges being faced by Russian scientists,” said Gupta. While at WSU,
Fortov will talk with scientists at the ISP.
Fortov earned advanced degrees in plasma physics and the physics of shock waves from
the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology in 1968, 1971 and 1976, and is now professor in
chemical physics and plasma physics there. Since 1991, he has been chief and chair of high
energy physics at the institute. He is author of many scientific publications and was awarded a
State Prize for work on the design and testing of a spacecraft safeguard system on the
international Halley’s Comet exploration project.
Among Fortov’s other recent awards are the Medal for Merits for the Fatherland, the
Russian State Award and the Russia Government Award in Physics. Fortov is the first Russian
to win the Bridgeman Award from the International Union for High Pressure Science and
Technology. He is a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the American Physical
Society, and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.
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