Vladimir Fortov

Vladimir Yevgenyevich Fortov (Russian: Владимир Евгеньевич Фортов, January 23, 1946, Noginsk, Moscow Oblast, Russia) is a Russian physicist, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. On May 29, 2013 he was elected the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences.^[1] Before the election, Fortov was the director of the Joint Institute for High Temperatures of Russian Academy of Sciences, located in Moscow.

Fortov studied physics at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, where he graduated from in 1968. In 1971, he got his Candidate of Sciences degree, and in 1976 the Doctor of Sciences degree. Since 1982, he was a professor at the same university. Between 1971 and 1986 Fortov was employed at the 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.^[2]

From 1993 to 1997, Fortov was the chairman of the Russian Foundation of Fundamental Research, the governmental organization responsible for funding of 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. Vladimir Putin, who at the time was the president of Russia, only signed the appointment of Fortov on July 8, 2013.^[3] This is because Fortov strongly criticized the reform of the Academy initiated by Putin.

The research of Fortov was related to thermal physics, shock waves, and plasma physics. He was involved with applications, in particular, to energy production.^[4]

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