{{Short description|Russian physicist and politician (1946–2020)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2014}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Vladimir Fortov | image = Science talk (2016-04-27) 02.jpg | office = President of the [[Russian Academy of Sciences]] | term_start = 29 May 2013 | term_end = 22 March 2017 | predecessor = [[Yury Osipov]] | successor = [[Valery Kozlov]] (acting),<br>[[Alexander Sergeev (physicist)|Alexander Sergeev]] | office1 = [[Deputy Chairman of the Government]] | term_start1 = 17 August 1996 | term_end1 = 17 March 1997 | office2 = [[Ministry of Education and Science (Russia)|Minister of Science and Technology of the Russian Federation]] | term_start2 = 17 August 1996 | term_end2 = 25 July 1998 | predecessor2 = [[Boris Saltykov]] | successor2 = [[Vladimir Bulgak]] | birth_date = {{birth date|1946|1|23|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Noginsk]], [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]], [[Soviet Union]] | death_date = {{death date and age|2020|11|29|1946|1|23|df=y}} | death_place = [[Central Clinic and Hospital]], [[Moscow]], [[Russia]] | party = | alma_mater = [[Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology]] | profession = Academic of [[Russian Academy of Sciences]] | signature = | native_name_lang = ru | native_name = {{nobold|Владимир Фортов}} | caption = Fortov in 2016 }}
'''Vladimir Yevgenyevich Fortov''' ({{langx|ru|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).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.itar-tass.com/c1/753515.html|script-title=ru:Владимир Фортов избран президентом Российской академии наук|date=29 May 2013|publisher=[[ITAR-TASS]]|language=ru|access-date=29 May 2013}}</ref> His research was in [[thermal physics]], [[shock wave]]s, [[Plasma (physics)|plasma physics]], and Black matter.
==Biography== Fortov studied physics at the [[Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology]], graduating in 1968. In 1971, he received his [[Candidate of Sciences]] degree, and in 1976 the [[Doktor nauk|Doctor of Sciences]] degree. He was a professor at the same university from 1982. Between 1971 and 1986 Fortov was employed at the [[Institute of Problems of Chemical Physics|Institute of Chemical Physics]] in [[Chernogolovka]], and between 1986 and 1992, still being a part-time researcher at the same institution, he was also employed by the Joint Institute for High Temperatures. In 1992, he was appointed the director of this institute.<ref name="gazeta">{{cite web|url=http://www.gazeta.ru/tags/fortov_vladimir_evgenevich.shtml|script-title=ru:Владимир Евгеньевич Фортов|publisher=[[Gazeta.ru]]|language=ru|access-date=1 June 2013}}</ref>
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 (Russia)|State Committee of Science and Technology]], and later a minister of science and technology. The government he was a part of retired in 1998.<ref name="gazeta"/>
According to the law, the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences is formally appointed by the President of the Russian Federation. [[Vladimir Putin]], who at the time was the president of Russia, only signed the appointment of Fortov on 8 July 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://echo.msk.ru/news/1110980-echo.html|script-title=ru:Президент Путин утвердил Владимира Фортова в должности президента Российской академии наук|publisher=[[Echo of Moscow]]|language=ru|access-date=8 July 2013}}</ref> On 20 March 2017, elections for the president of the Academy were scheduled, and Fortov ran as one of the three candidates. Unexpectedly the previous day all candidates retracted their nominations, and the elections were canceled.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nature.com/news/election-chaos-at-russian-academy-of-sciences-1.21715|title= Election chaos at Russian Academy of Sciences |author= O. Dobrovidova|date=27 March 2017|publisher= [[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|language=en|access-date=11 August 2017}}</ref> On 22 March, Fortov resigned, citing health issues, and [[Valery Vasilevich Kozlov|Valery Kozlov]] was appointed acting president.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://kommersant.ru/doc/3248892|title=Валерий Козлов назначен исполняющим обязанности президента РАН|date=22 March 2017|publisher=[[Kommersant]]|language=ru|access-date=22 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="relieved">{{cite web |url= https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-academy-sciences-relieved-of-duties-fortov/28387141.html |title= President of Russian Academy of Sciences Relieved of Duties |date=23 March 2017 |publisher= [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]] |language=en|access-date=23 March 2017}}</ref>
Fortov's research was in the areas of thermal physics, [[shock wave]]s, and [[Plasma (physics)|plasma physics]]. He was involved with applications, in particular, to energy production.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oem.ras.ru/index.php/strukturaotdelenya/organizaczii?sycloneTask=sycloneDetails&catid=4&sycloneId=15|script-title=ru:Объединенный институт высоких температур РАН (ОИВТ РАН)|publisher=ОЭММПУ РАН|language=ru|access-date=1 June 2013|archive-date=27 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727054622/http://oem.ras.ru/index.php/strukturaotdelenya/organizaczii?sycloneTask=sycloneDetails&catid=4&sycloneId=15|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Fortov died on 29 November 2020, in Moscow, after being infected with [[COVID-19]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.interfax.ru/russia/739128|script-title=ru: Скончался болевший коронавирусом экс-глава РАН Фортов|trans-title=Corona-infected ex-head of the RAS (Russian academy of sciences) has died|publisher=[[Interfax]]|language=ru|date=29 November 2020|access-date=29 November 2020}}</ref>
==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 (Russia)|Order of Honour]] (2006), [[Order of Friendship]] (2011), [[Order of Alexander Nevsky]] (2013), [[Order "For Merit to the Fatherland"]] (II class) (2016).<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://tass.ru/nauka/2596526 |title = Путин наградил главу РАН орденом "За заслуги перед Отечеством" II степени}}</ref> * International awards: [[Hannes Alfvén Prize]] (2003),<ref>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1088/0741-3335/45/12A/E02|title = Award of the 2003 Hannes Alfvén Prize of the European Physical Society to Professor Vladimir Evgenievitch Fortov|journal = Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion|volume = 45|issue = 12A|year = 2003|last1 = Wagner|first1 = F.|doi-access = free}}</ref> [[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).{{cn|date=November 2020}}
==References== {{Commons category}} {{reflist}}
{{Hannes Alfvén Prize recipients}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortov, Vladimir}} [[Category:1946 births]] [[Category:2020 deaths]] [[Category:Deputy heads of government of the Russian Federation]] [[Category:Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology alumni]] [[Category:Academic staff of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology]] [[Category:Russian physicists]] [[Category:Plasma physicists]] [[Category:Corresponding Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences]] [[Category:Full Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences]] [[Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences]] [[Category:Presidents of the Russian Academy of Sciences]] [[Category:State Prize of the Russian Federation laureates]] [[Category:Full Cavaliers of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland"]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia)]] [[Category:Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]] [[Category:Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia]]