International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 51 (2008) 6362

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International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhmt

In Celebration

Academician Alexander Ivanovich Leontiev on his 80th birthday
Graham de Vahl Davis, Leonid Dombrovsky *, Richard Goldstein, Kemal Hanjalic, Geoff Hewitt, John Howell,
John Lloyd, W.J. Minkowycz, Samuel Sideman, Natalie MedvetskayaInstitute for High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Sciences, NCHMT, Krasnokazarmennaya 17A, Moscow 111116, Russia

On May 24th, 2007 we will celebrate the 80th birthday ofAcademician Alexander Ivanovich Leontiev. In 1950 AlexanderLeontiev graduated from Moscow Aviation Institute, and in 1963
he became a Doctor of Technical Sciences. A few years later, in1965, he became a full Professor. He was elected a corresponding
member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in 1987 and in1991 he was elected an Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Academician Leontiev is a leading ﬁgure in thermal physics
research (and in particular in convective heat transfer and related
topics); his work is known and admired throughout the world!
The period of Academician Leontiev’s creative work has
embraced the most signiﬁcant period of the development ofthermal sciences in the former Soviet Union and in the RussianFederation. It includes well-known achievements in such areas asboiling, boundary layer theory, and modern problems of combined
free and forced convective heat transfer. His work at the leading
science centres in Moscow and Novosibirsk has resulted in Academician Leontiev becoming the leader of the entire community ofRussian scientists working in the area of heat transfer. He is Chairman of the National Committee of Heat and Mass Transfer of theRussian Academy of Sciences and a member of the editorial board
DOI of original article: 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2007.08.002* Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +7 495 362 5590.
E-mail address: dombr@online.ru (L. Dombrovsky).

doi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2008.07.007

of a number of Russian and International journals including theInternational Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer and the International
Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer.
Over the past several decades, Alexander Leontiev has been leading the Russian delegations to numerous international science forums
and has actively participated in the activities of the International
Centre for Heat and Mass Transfer (ICHMT) as an elected memberof the Executive Committee and Vice President of ICHMT. His incisive
intelligence and natural personal charm, friendliness and an extremely wonderful sense of humour, makes a personal relationship withSasha (as he is called by friends and colleagues from many countries)
not only rich and interesting, but also extremely pleasant.
Alexander Leontiev has educated at least two generations ofyoung specialists in the science of heat transfer. Under his leadership, seminars are regularly conducted for young scientists; theyare referred to as the ‘‘Leontiev Schools”. Many leading researchers
working in scholarly laboratories all over the world are proud tocall themselves Leontiev’s students.
A relationship with Alexander Leontiev provides the young
scientists much more than professional knowledge. This relationship aids them in becoming cultured individuals, in valuing theircolleagues, and in forming positive human qualities.
We and many other friends and colleagues of Academician
Alexander Leontiev wish him hearty good health, continued creative activity, and cheerful spirit.