Borys Paton

Borys Yevhenovych Paton
HOU
Борис Євгенович Патон
Borys Paton 2010.jpg
Paton in 2010
Born(1918-11-27)27 November 1918
Died19 August 2020(2020-08-19) (aged 101)
NationalityUkrainian
CitizenshipUkraine
Alma materKyiv Polytechnic Institute
Known forstudies in metallurgy of electrical welding; President of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (since 1962)
SpouseOlha Paton
ChildrenYevhenia
AwardsHero of Ukraine
Hero of Socialist Labor (twice)
Lomonosov Gold Medal
Scientific career
FieldsMetallurgy
InstitutionsPaton Electrical-Welding Institute, International Association of Science Academies, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
InfluencesYevhen Paton

Borys Yevhenovych Paton (Ukrainian: Бори́с Євге́нович Пато́н, Russian: Борис Евгеньевич Патон; 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 works 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, more precisely 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 never fully denounced Ukraine's past as part of the Soviet Union. In 2019 he declared he was against decommunization policies.

Paton joined the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine on 18 November 1958. From 1963 to 1991, he was a member of the USSR Academy of Science. 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 USSR Academy of Sciences 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 USSR from 1962 to 1989 (27 years in a row).

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

Paton was the first person to have been awarded the title of the Hero of Ukraine, this was done in 1998.

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 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, Yevhenia, who was also a scientist. Yevhenia 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
    • 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
Russian
  • Order of Merit for 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 (Russian Federation, 19 January 2004) – for outstanding contribution to science and to strengthen friendship and cooperation between Russia and Ukraine
Other

Notes


This page was last updated at 2023-02-19 09:40 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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