This year, the Russian-American Association of Scientists awarded the prize to University of South Carolina chemistry professor Anna Krylov "for pioneering contributions to theoretical and computational chemistry, especially for the development of new methods for theoretical modeling of open-shell and electronically excited molecules," as well as for contributions to the movement for scientific ethics and academic freedom.
Anna Krylov graduated with a master's degree from Lomonosov Moscow State University and received her PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. At the University of South Carolina, her group studies the interaction of matter and light in applications to spectroscopy, solar energy conversion, bioimaging, and quantum information transfer. Anna Krylov is also the president of a company that develops software for quantum chemistry. She has become a laureate of many prestigious awards. In addition, Krylov is a co-founder of the American Alliance for Freedom.
The laureate also includes New York University professor, historian, and theorist of art and culture Mikhail Yampolsky. The award was given for "unique work that connects literature, cinema, philosophy, and social theory," "the breadth and depth of research that has changed the vision of Russian culture and intellectual history," and "for an influential critical voice in Russian and international intellectual life." Mikhail Yampolsky holds a doctorate in art history, has worked at New York University for over 30 years, and has written nearly five hundred articles and more than twenty monographs. Mikhail Yampolsky was an author of NT.
"The special significance of this award for me is the high recognition I received from representatives of the exact sciences, not in the usual humanitarian circle. I have always strived to go beyond the narrow confines of disciplinary specialization," noted Yampolsky.
The RASA award has been presented since 2015 in memory of Georgy Antonovich Gamow, a Soviet and American theoretical physicist, astrophysicist, and popularizer of science.