ON THE OCCASION OF THE 80TH BIRTHDAY OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL

Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan Murat Zhurinov

The President of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the foremost Kazakh scientist in the field of electrochemistry Murat Zhurinov turned 80 years old.

Murat Zhurinov is the author of many inventions and methods patented in the USA, Germany, Great Britain and other countries. The results of the scientist's work have been introduced into production with great economic effect. Murat Zhurinov brought up a whole pleiad of young scientists who made a valuable contribution to the development of the socio-economic sectors of Kazakhstan.

M.Zh. Zhurinov was born in 1941 in the city of Arys, Turkestan region. In 1964, he graduated from the Kazakh Institute of Chemical Technology. He worked as a teacher of KazCTI (1964-1966). In 1970, he graduate from the post-graduate studies of the Moscow Institute of Chemical Technology, having defended his PhD thesis. After that, he returned to the Department of "Electrochemical Production Technologies" of KazCTI, worked as a senior lecturer, head of the department, dean of the faculty (1970-1982). At the department, he created a laboratory of electrochemistry of organic compounds and opened a postgraduate study.

The scientist led scientific research on the study of electrochemical properties of various classes of organic compounds and the electrosynthesis of biologically active substances based on natural compounds. He developed new methods of electrochemical synthesis of both known medicinal and new physiologically active substances. M. Zhurinov's deep and comprehensive approach to research made it possible to solve a number of important theoretical and technological problems. For the first time, he established the mechanisms of some electrochemical reactions, developed technology and created an industrial plant for electrosynthesis of target products.

In 1981, he defended his doctoral thesis in Moscow and in the same year, he was awarded the title of professor.

Since 1982, he worked as a vice-rector of Karaganda State University. In the same year, he was awarded the badge "Excellent Worker of Higher School of the USSR". From 1985 to 1991, he was the Director of the Institute of Organic Synthesis and Carbon Chemistry of the Kazakh SSR Academy of Sciences.

In 1989, he became a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR.

While he was a Rector of the Turkestan State University named after Kh. A. Yassawi (1991-1995), in 1994 he received the title of Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

From 1995 to 1997 he was the Minister of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, from 1997 to 2001 - President of the International Kazakh-Turkish University named after Kh.A. Yassawi, from 2001 to 2007 - Director of the D.V. Sokolsky Institute of Organic Catalysis and Electrochemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In 2003, he received the State Prize of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the field of science, technology and education and headed the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

From 2010 to 2014 - Vice-Rector for Science of the Kazakh-British Technical University.

Since 2013 - General Director of the D.V. Sokolsky Institute of Fuel, Catalysis and Electrochemistry.

M. Zhurinov is an Academician of the International Academy of Higher Education, the International Academy of Engineering and the New York Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Honorary Professor of Georgetown and Tokyo, as well as other universities: KazNU named after al-Farabi, KazNRTU named after K. Satpayev, KarSU named after E. Buketov, KSTU, SKSU named after M. Auezov, Kh.A. Yasawi IKTU, Honorary Doctor of the Russian Chemical Technical University named after D. Mendeleev, a foreign member of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan, Honorary Member of the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic, President of the Union of National Academies of Sciences of the Turkic World.

M. Zhurinov is the author of 92 inventions and methods patented in the USA, Germany, Great Britain and other foreign countries. Some of his works have been introduced into production with great economic effect. He has over 770 scientific papers published in domestic and foreign publications, including 20 monographs, about 143 copyright certificates and patents. Under his scientific supervision about 40 Candidates of Sciences and PhD-doctors, 6 Doctors of Sciences have been trained, three of them are elected academicians and corresponding members of NAS RK.

Under his leadership, the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan prepares an annual National Report on Science and publishes it after approval by the HSTC under the government and administration of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. NAS RK issues 8 academic journals (since 1946), which are supplied to the National Libraries of 73 leading countries of the world and are included in the Elsevier-Scopus database, being the most prestigious journals in Central Asia.

The large contribution of M. Zhurinov to the development of the socio-economic sector of independent Kazakhstan is the creation and development of a large university in Turkestan.  He was the first rector of Turkestan State University named after Kh.A. Yassawi, opened by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.A. Nazarbayev in 1991. On his initiative, this university was transformed into the International Kazakh-Turkish university named after Kh.A. Yassawi, which is currently one of the leading universities of the Republic. Under his leadership, a modern university campus was built in Turkestan.

The second volume of the publication "Biz biletin Elbasy", published by the Library of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan - Elbasy in 2019, contains the memoirs of M. Zhurinov about this event and archival photographs from the international presentation of the university, in which the First President of Kazakhstan N.A. Nazarbayev and President of the Republic of Turkey T. Ozal took part.

Murat Zhurinov was awarded the orders "Parasat", "Barys" III and II degrees, the medal "Inventor of the USSR" and medals of the Republic of Kazakhstan, certificates of honor of all-Union and republican bodies, as well as the International Prize of the Turkic World (Ankara, 2001). For outstanding achievements in science, he was awarded the Gold Medals of the Scientific and Industrial Society of France (Paris, 2003), the Scientific Society "Golden Fortune" at the NAS of Ukraine (Kyiv, 2005), the honorary badge "Knight of Science and Art" and the Order "Mind, Honor, Valor" of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (Moscow, 2013). He is a recipient of the gold medal of the University of Tokyo (2001), the silver medal of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences named after V.I. Vernadsky, the gold medal named after Pyotr Kapitsa (2019).

He is an honorary citizen of the South Kazakhstan region, Arys district, cities of Arys, Turkestan, Kentau, as well as the state of Kentucky (USA).

In the book collections of the Library of Elbasy, the reader can find the book "Murat Zhurinov: moral life" (G. M. Mutanov), publications of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan, edited by M. Zhurinov, and academician's articles published in the media.