Borys Paton. Borys Yevhenovych Paton (; 27 November 1918 – 19 August 2020) was a Ukrainian scientist and a long-time chairman of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. He was appointed to this post in 1962 and held it until his death. Paton, like his father Evgeny Paton, was famous for his work in electric welding.

Biography
Paton was born on 27 November 1918 in Kyiv in the family of scientist and founder of the Paton Institute of Electric Welding in Kyiv, Professor Evgeny Paton. Evgeny Paton was (like his son) famous for his works in electric welding. The first welded bridge in Kyiv, Paton Bridge, was constructed under the supervision of, and named after, Evgeny Paton. Paton junior's mother was a housewife. Paton junior was born in the professors’ residence building of Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, where his father was teaching. In 1941, Borys Paton completed the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and became an engineer.

During the Second World War, in 1941 and 1942, Paton worked and designed electric circuits at the Krasnoye Sormovo Factory No. 112 in Gorky. His designs helped to increase Soviet tank production.

Paton had a doctoral degree in technical sciences after he defended his doctoral dissertation in 1952. In 1952 Paton joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1953 he became head of the Paton Institute of Electric Welding. (The institute founded and formerly led by his father.)

Paton joined the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine on 18 November 1958. From 1963 to 1991, he was a member of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union. Paton was appointed chairman of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in 1962 and held this position until his death. Paton was also offered to head the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union in Moscow, but he refused. He was convinced that he should work in Kyiv, at his parents' Institute of Electric Welding and the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.

Paton was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union from 1962 to 1989.

In the early 1970s and 1980s Paton had advised the Soviet authorities not to build the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

In 1998 Paton was the first person to have been awarded the title of the Hero of Ukraine.

In January 2008 Paton was appointed member of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine by a decree of President Viktor Yushchenko. In the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election he was a proxy for candidate Yulia Tymoshenko. In August 2011 Paton was one of the ten signatories of the so-called "Letter of Ten", a letter from Ukrainian intelligentsia figures in support of the policy of President Viktor Yanukovych.

Paton was last re-appointed for another term as chairman of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in 2015. Paton did not submit his candidacy for the post in March 2020, which signified that he was leaving the position.

Paton never fully denounced Ukraine's past as part of the Soviet Union. In 2019 he declared he was against decommunization policies.

Paton died on 19 August 2020 aged 101. He was buried at Baikove Cemetery three days later.

Borys Paton was the author of more than 1,000 publications, including 20 monographs and responsible for more than 400 inventions.

Family
Paton was married to Olha Paton and had a daughter, Yevheniya, who was also a scientist. Yevheniya died in 2009 and four years later, his wife died. After the death of his wife, Paton was cared for by his granddaughter, Olha.

Research activities 
Paton devoted his scientific research to

 automatic and semi-automatic submerged arc welding
 development of theoretical foundations for the creation of automatic and semi-automatic machines for electric arc welding and welding power supplies
 research for conditions of long arc burning and its regulation
 solving the problems of management of welding processes
 creation of new functional materials

Under his leadership, electroslag welding was created which became a fundamentally new method of welding. Paton led research on the application of welding heat sources for the improvement of the quality of the smelted metal. On this basis a new branch of metallurgy was founded called special electrometallurgy (electroslag, plasma arc welding and electron-beam remelting). He was the first researcher to start intensive research in the field of the use of welding and related technologies in space.

Honours and awards
Ukraine
 Hero of Ukraine (26 November 1998) – for dedicated service to science, outstanding achievements in the field of welding and special electrometallurgy, which contributed to the recognition and approval of the authority of Soviet science in the world.
 Order of Liberty (21 January 2012)
 Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise:
1st class (27 November 2008) – for many years of untiring service to the science, outstanding personal contribution to strengthening the scientific and economic potential of Ukraine
2nd class (December 7, 2018) – for a significant personal contribution to the development of national science, strengthening the scientific and technical potential of the Ukrainian state, many years of fruitful work and on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
4th class (26 November 2003) – for outstanding personal contribution to the development of domestic science, strengthening scientific and technological capacities and on the occasion of the 85th anniversary of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
5th class (13 May 1997) – for outstanding personal contribution to the Ukrainian state in the development of science, the approval authority of the national academic school in the world
 State Prize of Ukraine (2004)
 Honour of the President of Ukraine (1993)

Soviet Union
 Hero of Socialist Labour, twice (1969, 1978); this award includes the installation of a bust of the recipient – Paton – in his home town of Kyiv; it was sculpted by  in 1982 and it is installed in front of academic museums at 15 Bogdan Khmelnitsky
 Four Orders of Lenin (1967, 1969, 1975, 1978)
 Order of the October Revolution (1984)
 Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1943)
 Order of Friendship of Peoples (1988)
 Lenin Prize (1957)
 Stalin Prize (1950)
 Award of the Council of Ministers of the USSR (1988, 1984)
 Honoured Worker of Science and Technology of the Ukrainian SSR (1968)
 Honoured Inventor of the USSR (1983)
 Lomonosov Gold Medal (1981)
 Member of the Central Committee of the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1986–1990)

Russian
 Order "For Merit to the Fatherland";
1st class (Russia, 26 November 2008) – for outstanding contribution to world science, strengthening the scientific and cultural relations between the states – members of the Commonwealth of Independent States
2nd class (Russia, 27 November 1998) – for outstanding contribution to science
 Order of Honour (Russia, 19 January 2004) – for outstanding contribution to science and to strengthen friendship and cooperation between Russia and Ukraine

Other
 2020: IEEE Honorary Membership
 Korolev Gold Medal (2003)
 Czochralski Gold Medal (2006)
 Honorary Citizen of Mariupol (1998) – for outstanding service to Mariupol
 Professor Emeritus of Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (2003)
 Global Energy Prize (2010)
 Honorary member of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova

Notes

References

External links

 National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
 Listen to how the Paton Bridge "breathes" – a section of the article features audio recordings made under this famous bridge
Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine
Official Award IEEE Page

1918 births
2020 deaths
20th-century Ukrainian engineers
Engineers from Kyiv
Scientists from Kyiv
Academic staff of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
Club of Rome members
Foreign fellows of the Indian National Science Academy
Foreign members of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Foreign members of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus
Full Members of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Full Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences
Honorary members of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova
Kyiv Polytechnic Institute alumni
Members of the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin
Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences
Members of the Tajik Academy of Sciences
Presidents of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Candidates of the Central Committee of the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union) members
Fifth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
Sixth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
Seventh convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
Eighth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
Ninth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
Tenth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
Eleventh convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
Sixth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union
Seventh convocation members of the Soviet of the Union
Eighth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union
Ninth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union
Tenth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union
Eleventh convocation members of the Soviet of the Union
Members of the Central Committee of the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Members of the Central Committee of the 24th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Members of the Central Committee of the 25th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Members of the Central Committee of the 26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Members of the Central Committee of the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Members of the Central Committee of the 28th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Chevaliers of the Order of Merit (Ukraine)
Commander's Grand Crosses of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas
Heroes of Socialist Labour
Knights of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
Laureates of the State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technology
Recipients of the Friendship Order
Recipients of the Honorary Diploma of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
Recipients of the title of Hero of Ukraine
Recipients of the Lenin Prize
Recipients of the Lomonosov Gold Medal
Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 1st class
Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class
Recipients of the Order of Francysk Skaryna
Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples
Recipients of the Order of Honor (Georgia)
Recipients of the Order of Honour (Moldova)
Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia)
Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Recipients of the Order of Liberty (Ukraine)
Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 1st class
Recipients of the Order of the October Revolution
Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st class
Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 2nd class
Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 4th class
Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 5th class
Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold
Recipients of the Shohrat Order
Recipients of the Stalin Prize
Soviet inventors
Soviet mechanical engineers
Ukrainian men centenarians
Ukrainian inventors
Ukrainian mechanical engineers
Welders
Burials at Baikove Cemetery