Evgeny Velikhov

{{Short description|Russian physicist (1935–2024)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Evgeny Velikhov | native_name = {{nobold|Евгений Велихов}} | native_name_lang = ru | image = Evgeny Velikhov (2017-06-20) (cropped).jpg | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = Velikhov in 2017 | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1935|02|02}} | birth_place = [[Moscow]], [[Russian SFSR]], [[USSR]] | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2024|12|05|1935|02|02}} | death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | other_names = | residence = | citizenship = {{USSR}} {{RUS}} | | fields = [[Nuclear physics]] | workplaces = [[Kurchatov Institute]] [[Russian Academy of Sciences]] [[Soviet Academy of Sciences]] [[Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology]] [[Public Chamber of Russia]] | patrons = | education = | alma_mater = [[Moscow State University|M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University]] | thesis_title =  | thesis_url =  | thesis_year =  | doctoral_advisor =  | academic_advisors = [[Alexander Prokhorov]] | doctoral_students = | known_for = | influences = | notable_students = | influenced = | awards = [[Hero of Socialist Labour]] (1985) [[Lenin Prize]] (1984) [[State Prize of the Russian Federation]] (2003) [[Global Energy Prize]] (2006) [[Orders of Lenin]] [[Order of Merit for the Fatherland]] [[Order of Courage (Russia)|Order of Courage]] [[Order of the Red Banner of Labour]] | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | spouse =  | partner =  | children = | signature =  | signature_alt = | website =  | footnotes = | | module = {{Listen |pos = center |embed = yes |filename = Evgenij Velihov voice.oga |title = Evgeny Velikhov's voice |type = |description = Velikhov's on the Echo of Moscow program, 1 June 2006 |}} }}

'''Evgeny Pavlovich Velikhov''' ({{langx|ru|Евгений Павлович Велихов}}; 2 February 1935 – 5 December 2024) was a Russian physicist and scientific leader.<ref name="CV">{{Cite web | title=E. P. Velikhov link at Kurchatov Institute | url=http://www.kiae.ru/rnc1.html | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080315040100/http://www.kiae.ru/rnc1.html | archive-date=15 March 2008 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> His scientific interests included [[Plasma (physics)|plasma physics]], [[laser]]s, [[Fusion power|controlled nuclear fusion]], [[power engineering]], and [[magnetohydrodynamics]] ([[Pulsed power|high-power pulsed]] [[Magnetohydrodynamic generator|MHD generators]]). He was the author of over 1500 [[Scientific literature|scientific publications]] and a number of inventions and discoveries.

Velikhov held the post of president of the [[Kurchatov Institute]] (named after [[Igor Kurchatov]]) and first Secretary (head) of the [[Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation]]. He was a member of the [[Russian Academy of Sciences]] and the vice-president of the [[Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union]].

== Life and career == Evgeny Velikhov graduated from the Department of Physics at [[Moscow State University|M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University]] (MSU) in 1958, where he specialized in theoretical physics. From 1958 until 1961, he studied at graduate school. After completing his graduate work, he began work as a junior researcher at the ''Institute of Atomic Energy'', the precursor institution to the Russian Research Centre (RRC) "Kurchatov Institute". He spent most of his scientific career rising through the ranks of this famous federal scientific agency.

His early work regarding [[fluid]] and plasma [[Instability|instabilities]] led to the discovery of the [[magnetorotational instability]] in 1959,<ref name="V1959"> {{cite journal | last = Velikhov | first = E. P. | year = 1959 | title = Stability of an Ideally Conducting Liquid Flowing Between Cylinders Rotating in a Magnetic Field | journal=[[Soviet Physics JETP]] | volume = 36 | issue = 5 | pages = 1398–1404 | bibcode = 1959JETP....9..995V }}</ref> and the [[electrothermal instability]] in 1962.<ref> {{cite conference | author=E.P. Velikhov | year = 1962 | title = Hall instability of current-carrying slightly-ionized plasmas | conference = 1st International Conference on MHD Electrical Power Generation, Paper 47 | book-title = Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England }} </ref>

In 1964, he defended his [[Dissertation|thesis]] before receiving his [[Doctor of Science]] degree in [[physics]] and [[mathematics]].

In 1968, he obtained the rank of Professor of [[atomic physics]], plasma physics, and microelectronics at the Physics Department of [[Moscow State University]]. In 1973, he became the head of the Department until 1988. In 1971, he became a member of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]].

From 1971 to 1978, he was the director of the [[Magnetic Laboratory]] (later known as the [[Troitsk Institute of Innovative and Thermonuclear Research|TRINITY]] State Scientific Center), a branch of the [[Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union]] in 1956, and subdivision of Kurchatov Institute since 1961, at [[Troitsk, Moscow Oblast]].

In 1972, he founded an energy and space plasma research department at [[Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology]] (MIPT, more known as "Phystech"), with a base in this branch of the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy (KIAE).

In 1975, he established another new [[Academic department|department]] at Phystech in order to study the problems of physics and energy, for which he received the honor of [[Professor|chair]] of plasma energy. The next year, he was appointed the first [[Dean (education)|dean]] of the ''Faculty of Physics For Energy'' (FPFE), a [[Research and development|R&D]] department of fusion energy specialized in plasma and high pressure physics, quantum optics, laser, and space technologies. Ten years later, in 1986, he was promoted as the scientific director of FPFE. In 1986, he was also a science advisor to [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] and helped in the clean-up of the [[Chernobyl Disaster]].

In 1988, he was named director of Kurchatov Institute and chairman of the international programme (Russia, United States, [[European Union]] and Japan) for the creation of the thermonuclear experimental [[tokamak]] [[ITER]], and has been its president from 1992 until his death in December 2024. In 2009 he was elected Chair of the ITER Council, the governing body of ITER.

He was also president of the [[joint-stock company]] [[Rosshelf]] (Russian offshore development company to develop seafloor-based oil and gas production complex), [[Gazprom]]'s subsidiary; and co-chairman of [[RELCOM]] board of directors.

Velikhov resided in [[Moscow]] until his death on 5 December 2024, at the age of 89.<ref>{{cite web |title=Academician Evgeny Velikhov has died |url=https://ria.ru/20241205/velikhov-1987622048.html |website=RIA News |date=5 December 2024 |access-date=5 December 2024}}</ref>

== Awards == Evgeny Velikhov was well known in the world scientific and engineering community for his diverse activities, for which he has received several honors and awards, among which:

* Member of the US [[National Academy of Engineering]] (2003) * Correspondent of the [[Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union]] (1968); Member of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union (1974); Vice-President of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union (1978–1991) and the [[Russian Academy of Sciences]] (1991–1996). * Academician-secretary of the Office of information technologies and computer engineering and automatics division of Russian Academy of Sciences (since 1983). * [[Hero of Socialist Labour]] (1985); USSR State Prize laureate (1977); winner of the [[Lenin Prize]] (1984); the MD Millionshchikov Prize of USSR Academy of Sciences (1986); the [[State Prize of the Russian Federation]] (2003); the "[[Global Energy Prize]]" (2006); as well as the [[American Physical Society]] [[Leo Szilard|Szilard]]'s Prize and the World Scientist Federation "Science and Peace" Prize. *[[Hero of Labour of the Russian Federation]] (2020) * Three [[Order of Lenin|Orders of Lenin]] * [[Order "For Merit to the Fatherland"]], 1st (2015), 2nd (2005), 3rd (2000) and 4th (2010) class * [[Order of Courage (Russia)|Order of Courage]] * [[Order of the Red Banner of Labour]] * Honorary member of the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences]]. * Honorary member of [[Ioffe Institute]], [[Saint Petersburg]]. * Doctor [[Honorary degree|Honoris Causa]] at the [[University of Notre Dame]], Indiana; at [[William Howard Taft University]], California, USA; and at the [[University of London]], UK. * [[Citizenship|Honorary Citizen]] of Rino, USA; and [[Plovdiv]], Bulgaria. * [[Order of Merit (Ukraine)|Order of Merit]] 3rd Class (Ukraine, 26 April 2011) - for his significant personal contribution to overcoming the consequences of the [[Chernobyl disaster]], the implementation of international humanitarian programs, many years of fruitful public activity. *[[Order of the Rising Sun]], 2nd class (Japan)

==References== <references />

{{DEFAULTSORT:Velikhov, Evgeny}} [[Category:1935 births]] [[Category:2024 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century Russian physicists]] [[Category:Candidates of the Central Committee of the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] [[Category:Members of the Central Committee of the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] [[Category:Eleventh convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities]] [[Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Engineering]] [[Category:Foreign members of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences]] [[Category:Full Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences]] [[Category:Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences]] [[Category:Members of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation]] [[Category:Academic staff of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology]] [[Category:Moscow State University alumni]] [[Category:Heroes of Socialist Labour]] [[Category:Heroes of Labour of the Russian Federation]] [[Category:Recipients of the Lenin Prize]] [[Category:Full Cavaliers of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland"]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order of Lenin]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd class]] [[Category:Recipients of the USSR State Prize]] [[Category:State Prize of the Russian Federation laureates]] [[Category:Russian experimental physicists]] [[Category:Russian nuclear physicists]] [[Category:Soviet nuclear physicists]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order of Courage (Russia)]] [[Category:Russian scientists]] [[Category:Scientists from Moscow]] [[Category:ITER people]] [[Category:Pulsed power researchers]] [[Category:Members of the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union]]