Vladimir Fortov

Vladimir Yevgenyevich Fortov (Russian: Владимир Евгеньевич Фортов; 23 January 1946 – 29 November 2020) was a Russian physicist and politician who served as director of the Joint Institute for High Temperatures (1992–2013) and as president of the Russian Academy of Sciences (2013–2017).^[1] His research was in thermal physics, shock waves and plasma physics.

Biography

Fortov studied physics at the

From 1993 to 1997, Fortov was the chairman of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, the governmental organization responsible for funding fundamental research. In 1996, he also became a chairman of the State Committee of Science and Technology, and later a minister of science and technology. The government he was a part of retired in 1998.^[2]

According to the law, the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences is formally appointed by the President of the Russian Federation.

Fortov died on 29 November 2020, in Moscow, after being infected with COVID-19.^[8]

Recognition

• National awards: Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1986), USSR State Prize (1988), Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" (IV class) (1996), State Prize of the Russian Federation (1997), Medal "In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow" (1998), Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" (III class) (1999), Jubilee Medal "300 Years of the Russian Navy" (2000), Order of Honour (2006), Order of Friendship (2011), Order of Alexander Nevsky (2013), Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" (II class) (2016).^[9]
• International awards:
  UNESCO Albert Einstein medal (2005), Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2006), Legion of Honour (2006), Dr. Phil. Nat. Honoris Causa of Goethe University Frankfurt (2010). Global Energy Prize (2013).^{[citation needed}
  ]

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