Boris Yevgenyevich Paton (November 14, 1918, Kyiv — August 19, 2020) was a Soviet and Ukrainian scientist in the fields of electric welding, metallurgy, and metal technology, an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (from 1991, the Russian Academy of Sciences) and of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and president of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine from 1962. In 1941–1942 he worked as an engineer at the Krasnoye Sormovo Plant in Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod). He was twice a Hero of Socialist Labor.[1]

Origins and Education

He was born into the family of the scientist Yevgeny Oskarovich Paton (1870–1953) — later an academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR and a Hero of Socialist Labor — and Natalia Viktorovna Budde (1885–1971).[1] In 1941 he graduated from the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute with a degree in electrical engineering.[1]

Work at Krasnoye Sormovo

In 1941–1942, immediately after graduating from the institute, Boris Paton worked as an engineer in the electrical engineering laboratory of the Krasnoye Sormovo Plant in Gorky.[2][1] During the Great Patriotic War the plant was one of the country's largest producers of armored vehicles, and the work of the electrical engineering laboratory was directly connected with welding technologies in military production. In 1942 Paton moved to the Institute of Electric Welding of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, where he began his career as a junior research fellow.[1]

Scientific Career

In 1945 Paton defended his candidate's dissertation, "Analysis of the Operation of Welding Heads and Their Power Supply Methods in Submerged Arc Welding," and in 1952 his doctoral dissertation, "A Study of the Conditions for Stable Burning of the Welding Arc and Its Regulation."[1] In 1953, after his father's death, he became head of the E. O. Paton Institute of Electric Welding and led it until his own death in 2020.[1]

Under Paton's leadership, the electroslag welding method was created, making it possible to manufacture unique high-pressure vessels for the power and chemical industries, as well as large-scale components for seagoing ships and hydrogenerators.[1] He founded a new field, special electrometallurgy, and initiated research into the use of welding in space.[2] Paton is the chief initiator of the technology of welding living tissues, used in surgery.[2] He is the author and co-author of more than 720 inventions (500 foreign patents) and more than 1,200 publications, including 20 scientific monographs.[2]

Organizational and Government Activity

Since 1962, he has been president of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR (since 1994, the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine); under his leadership, the NASU grew into one of the largest scientific centers in Eastern Europe.[1] From 1963 to 1991, he was a member of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences.[1] He was a Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for six convocations (1962–1989) and, from 1966 to 1989, Deputy Chairman of the Soviet of the Union.[3] He is president of the International Association of Academies of Sciences.[2]

Awards and Recognition

Twice Hero of Socialist Labor: the first star was awarded by decree of March 13, 1969, and the second on November 24, 1978; both times with the presentation of the Order of Lenin.[1] He is a laureate of State and National Prizes and of the Global Energy Prize; he was awarded the Lomonosov Grand Gold Medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Orders "For Merit to the Fatherland," I and II class.[2] He was the first Hero of Ukraine in history.[3] A bronze bust of the scientist has been erected in Kyiv.[1]

References

  • Wikidata (Q2704774 — entry in the free knowledge base)
  • ORCID (0000-0001-9067-8322 — international identifier for scholars)
  • Scopus (7102352576 — author profile in Scopus)
  • VIAF (79194642 — Virtual International Authority File)
  • ISNI (0000000109919767)
  • GND (124484077 — German National Library catalog)

Sources

  1. warheroes.ru — Twice Hero of Socialist Labor Paton Boris Yevgenyevich — Heroes of the Country
  2. ras.ru — To Academician Paton Boris Yevgenyevich — 95 Years Old!
  3. rus.lb.ua — ​Paton Boris Yevgenyevich. Dossier