Gaponov-Grekhov Andrey Viktorovich (born June 7, 1926) — scientist, director of the Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
"Without an intellectual vanguard, which we must create anew, we cannot avoid a new cycle of severe stagnation. Ultimately, the condition and potential of a society are determined not only by its average level, but also by the peaks of its socio-moral, cultural, and scientific development" — so spoke Academician Andrey Viktorovich Gaponov-Grekhov some years ago. A brilliant scientist and refined intellectual who combines a combative temperament with enviable composure, he has long been recognized as an exceptionally authoritative, integrated, and vivid personality. Andrey Viktorovich was born in 1926 in Moscow, but well before the Great Patriotic War his parents — Viktor Ivanovich Gaponov and Maria Tikkhonovna Grekhova — moved with him to Nizhny Novgorod.
Enthusiast scientists led by Alexander Andronov conceived of establishing a center of radiophysical sciences there. Naturally, this required not only enthusiasm and exceptional ability, but also the conviction that selfless devotion to science could become the main pursuit of one's entire life. The young scientists' talent was organically combined with high moral demands upon themselves. Like his parents, who were wholly absorbed in their research, their son likewise neither knew nor sought any privileges for himself. During the war years he studied at the university while simultaneously working as a machinist at GIFTI. In 1949, upon graduating from the radiophysics faculty, he was awarded a red honors diploma. Gaponov-Grekhov prepared his candidate's dissertation under the supervision of Alexander Andronov. In the preamble to it, he wrote with gratitude: "The constant attention and valuable guidance I received over three years of working under Alexander Alexandrovich's supervision have been and will always be of enormous importance to me…" Indeed, the rigorous schooling Gaponov-Grekhov received from outstanding scientists opened up great possibilities for his own research and discoveries. His fundamental works in theoretical mechanics and physics, as well as electrodynamics, have gained recognition throughout the world. For a long time he headed the Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences — IPF RAS — which was established under his direct leadership. In any era, however difficult and grim, Andrey Viktorovich maintained an active civic stance. He was one of the most energetic initiators of the effort to restore the original name of his native city on the Volga River, which had been imperiously renamed City of Gorky in 1932 in connection with the 40th anniversary of the creative career of the celebrated writer A. M. Peshkov, who wrote under the literary pseudonym Maxim Gorky. It took years of effort to prove that the city should bear the name given to it by its founder — Grand Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich. And yet justice prevailed: on October 23, 1990, the city was restored its former name. Andrey Viktorovich was also called upon to show his character in his own field, when it became necessary to exert every effort to keep the institute he led standing as one of the most important outposts of Russian science. The electronic devices developed there now operate in many scientific centers around the world. A state program to support leading scientific schools, created at Gaponov-Grekhov's initiative, made it possible to preserve the continuity of the remarkable traditions of Russian science and to train new personnel oriented toward working in their own country. For all of this, the academician is himself an example of a true Russian intelligent. He is easy to talk to, trim and upright in the manner of an athlete, inwardly composed, and, for all his characteristic delicacy, confidently firm. Science recognizes no age limits, and so Andrey Viktorovich Gaponov-Grekhov remains in its power to this day and continues to serve as scientific director of the Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Achievements
He has been awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" 3rd class, and the highest honor of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the "Lomonosov Grand Gold Medal."
The title "Honorary Citizen of the City of Nizhny Novgorod" was conferred by resolution of the City Duma of Nizhny Novgorod dated June 18, 2003, No. 48.