11 March 2009 Accolade for ORT Ukraine President The scientific elite of Ukraine have elected the President of ORT Ukraine, Professor Dr Yuriy Yakimenko, to join them as an Academician of the National Academy of Science. Already an Associate Member of the Academy for 10 years, Professor Yakimenko’s elevation to the ranks of the 150 Academicians is a huge honour for him personally and, by extension, a sign of the quality of ORT’s programmes that the organisation can attract the commitment of someone so eminent in his field. ‘This nomination is the highest recognition that Ukraine’s scientific community can give a scientist,’ Professor Yakimenko, a specialist in electronics and informatics, said. ‘My new rank is useful for ORT because it is well known that I am the President of ORT Ukraine, so ORT’s prestige will be raised.’ The author of more than 250 scientific works, Professor Yakimenko has filed 35 patents and is the recipient of two national prizes in science and technology. He is one of only two scientists from among Ukraine’s more than 150 universities to have been raised to Academician this year. He is First Vice-Rector of the National Technical University of Ukraine, which was co-founded more than 100 years ago by Dmitri Mendeleyev (creator of the first version of the periodic table of elements), and which boasts Igor Sikorsky (the founder of the Sikorsky helicopter company) among its alumni. While the university is renowned for its scientific and technological courses, its 40,000 students also have the opportunity to pursue subsidiary studies in the humanities and so become qualified interpreters, managers, lawyers and economists. And since 1993, when he participated in an International Cooperation project, Professor Yakimenko has been an increasingly active and influential lay contributor to the ORT mission. ‘He was part of the group which was instrumental in re-establishing ORT in the countries of the Former Soviet Union,’ said Vladimir Dribinskiy, Head of World ORT’s Coordination and Education and Technology Departments. ‘No matter what the initiative, he has always been extremely helpful. He was a valuable member, for example, of the Strategic Task Force Steering Committee which developed World ORT’s new constitution and governance structure.’ Professor Yakimenko’s election to the highest echelon of Ukraine’s scientific community follows the election of ORT Russia President Professor Alexander Asmolov to Academician of the Russian Academy of Education. ORT Russia’s vice-President, Professor Alexei Semenov, is a Correspondent Member of the Russian Academy of Science, and Professor Alexander Kondakov, an ORT Russia delegate to the World ORT General Assembly, is a Correspondent Member of the Russian Academy of Education. ‘It’s a plain fact that ORT has lay leaders who are the cr me de la cr me of educators and scientists in these countries,’ Mr Dribinskiy said. ‘It is one thing to attract such busy people to an organisation, it is quite another to maintain their commitment over so many years. Professor Yakimenko, for example, has plenty of choices of what to do and where to travel; the fact that he decides to cross continents with ORT is an acknowledgement of how important he sees our mission.’ World ORT President Dr Jean de Gunzburg, himself an accomplished research scientist, congratulated Professor Yakimenko on his election. ‘I think it’s fantastic,’ Dr de Gunzburg said. ‘It’s recognition of his scientific achievements as well as his highly demanding managerial role at the National Technical University. To have as our president in Ukraine someone who has been so recognised is an honour for him and for us.’