Yuri Zhdanov (August 20, 1919 – December 19, 2006) is a man who changed science in the South of Russia. As a result of many years of research, he formed an original scientific direction in the field of carbohydrate chemistry. His research is reflected in more than 150 scientific articles, reports at international and all-Union congresses, congresses, symposia, scientific seminars and conferences.
From 1957 to 1988, Yuri Andreevich was the rector of Rostov State University (now SFU), and over these years he managed to bring the university to the level of the country’s leading universities: in Soviet times, the university occupied 4th place in the ranking of the best universities of the RSFSR, second only to Moscow, Leningradsky and Kazansky.
By order of Zhdanov, the Russian State University began training students in the specialization “Local history, methods and organization of tourism and excursion business.” During this period, the country’s first department of tourism, the department of environmental management and nature conservation, and the department of cultural theory were created.
Yuri Andreevich actively developed the scientific direction at the university. On his initiative, a number of research institutes were created within the university: physical and organic chemistry, mechanics and applied mathematics, physics, neurocybernetics, social and economic problems. The creation in 1962 of Russia’s first department of chemistry of natural compounds made it possible to outline a long-term program of fundamental and applied research in one of the most promising areas of modern science.
In the 1960s, Yuri Zhdanov developed new methods for the synthesis of C-glycosides of certain sugars.
In 1974, Yuri Zhdanov discovered (together with V.I. Minkin and L.P. Olekhnovich) the phenomenon of acylotropy – the rapid reversible migration of acyl groups between nucleophilic centers in molecules of organic compounds.
The philosophical and methodological works of Yuri Zhdanov are devoted to the analysis of trends in the development of chemistry (primarily organic), consideration of the relationship between the structure and dynamics of systems, as well as the problem of the chemical evolution of matter.
Today he is rightly called an outstanding scientist and rector who brought Southern Federal University to a leading position not only in Russia, but also on the world stage.
Author of the text: E.V. Chapny, Ph.D., Senior Researcher SKNTs Higher School of Southern Federal University