Professor Rashid A. Sunyaev

Professor Sunyaev graduated from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology in 1966 and received his Candidate of Sciences (PhD equivalent) and Doctor of Sciences degrees from Moscow University in 1968 and 1973, respectively. Between 1968-1982, he served as a scientific researcher at the Institute of Applied Mathematics and subsequently as Head of the Laboratory of Theoretical Astrophysics at the Space Research Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Moscow. He became full professor at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology from 1975-2001 and Head of the High Energy Astrophysics Department of the Space Research Institute in Moscow from 1982-2002. Professor Rashid Allevich Sunyaev is a prominent Russian physicist whose outstanding contributions to high energy astrophysics and cosmology profoundly impacted both fields and placed him at the forefront of contemporary astrophysicists.

Professor Sunyaev’s fundamental contributions to the advancement of cosmology and astrophysics during the past thirty years cannot be over-emphasized. Among his most distinguished contributions are: his predictions of acoustic peaks in the cosmic microwave background angular distribution, and the development of both the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect (S-Z effect) on clusters of galaxy and the theory of disk accretion (Standard Shakura-Sunyaev disk) and observational appearance of black holes in binary systems and active galactic nuclei. His achievements drove theoretical developments to new frontiers and led to the generation of powerful and widely used tools to study structures in the universe. Sunyaev also made significant contributions to space science. He led the team that built the X-ray observatory on Mir space station and the GRANAT orbiting X-ray observatory and is currently working with his team in preparing the world’s first astronomical X-ray satellite and on other projects related to the Planck Mission of the European Space Agency.

Professor Sunyaev’s outstanding accomplishments were recognized by numerous honors and awards. He is a member of the International Astronomical Union, member and former vice-president of the European Astronomical Society, member of the American Physical Society, member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, international member of the American Philosophical Society, foreign fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, and foreign associate of the US National Academy of Science. He is also an honorary member of the Bashkortostan and Tatarstan Academies of Sciences. In addition, Professor Sunyaev held numerous visiting and honorary professorships, Lectureships and visiting scientist/scholar positions at leading universities including Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Virginia, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton University, California Institute of Technology, Cambridge University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ludwig-Maximilian University, Leiden University, Toronto University and Bose National Center for Basic Sciences in Calcutta.

Professor Sunyaev was recognized by several prestigious awards including Bruno Rossi Prize, Crafoord Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Heinemann Prize in Astrophysics, Gruber Prize, Alexander Friedman Prize from the Russian Academy of Sciences, Bruce Medal, Karl Schwarzschild Medal of the German Astronomical Society and the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society. He published over 300 papers, some of which stand out among the most highly cited publications in astrophysics.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.