With deep regret, we inform that on November 23, 2020, in the hospital after a severe illness at the age of 78, the head of the Department of Plasma Physics of the Institute of Laser and Plasma Technologies of the NRNU MEPhI, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor Valery Aleksandrovich Kurnaev passed away.
The entire career of Valery Aleksandrovich, a talented scientist and leader, is inextricably linked with MEPhI and the Department of Plasma Physics. Valery Alexandrovich was born on December 21, 1942. In 1966 he graduated from the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute with a degree in Experimental Nuclear Physics. He began work at the university: first as an assistant, then as a postgraduate student. After graduating from postgraduate school, he worked at the Department of Plasma Physics as a researcher. In 1975 he defended his Ph.D. thesis on "Interaction of light ions with a solid." In 1992 he defended his doctoral thesis on "Reflection of light ions from a surface in problems of controlled fusion". In 1990 Valery Aleksandrovich headed the Department of Plasma Physics at the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI. In 1995 he was awarded the title of professor.
For more than 50 years, Valery Aleksandrovich worked on thermonuclear fusion problems and trained highly qualified specialists in this field. He created several modern research facilities based on which students are trained. In 2019, under his leadership, students and employees of the Department of Plasma Physics assembled an educational demonstration tokamak - the first and only such facility in Russia designed for research in the field of controlled fusion. The great merit of Valery Aleksandrovich was the organization of the department's branches in the leading scientific centers of the industry: NRC "Kurchatov Institute", Troitsk Institute for Innovation and Fusion Research, ITEP. V.A. Kurnaev was recognized as an outstanding specialist in plasma interaction with materials of thermonuclear devices in Russia and abroad. He was a member of the International Vacuum Society IUVSTA, the Nuclear Society and the Vacuum Society of Russia, the Scientific and Technical Council of Rosatom, the working group of Rosatom on the ITER project, was a member of the program committees of many Russian and international conferences. V.A. Kurnaev was awarded medals "Veteran of Labor" and "In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow", badges "Veteran of the Nuclear Industry and Energy", "Honorary Worker of Higher Professional Education of the Russian Federation", "Veteran of Labor MEPhI". In 2010 he was awarded a prize of the Government of the Russian Federation, in 2012 - a sign "For services to Rosatom". V.A. Kurnaev actively participated in the university's social life, career guidance work with schoolchildren, and the popularization of scientific activities. Valery Aleksandrovich will remain in our memory as an outstanding scientist, wise mentor, responsive and reliable colleague.
Blessed memory of Valery Alexandrovich.
