Dmitry Viktorovich Livanov was born on February 15, 1967 in Moscow in the family of aircraft designer Viktor Livanov, the future general director of the Ilyushin Aviation Design Bureau and one of the creators of the Il-96-300 aircraft. Dmitry Livanov studied at Moscow school No. 91, his certificate included “A’s” in all subjects except basic military training.
In 1990, Livanov graduated with honors from the Faculty of Physics and Chemistry of the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys (MISiS), receiving a diploma in Physics of Metals, after which, according to his official biography, he studied full-time graduate school at the institute for two years. Livanov himself claimed that after graduating from MISiS he worked abroad. In 1992, he defended his dissertation for the degree of candidate of physical and mathematical sciences on the topic “Heat transfer by interacting electrons in superconductors and normal metals” and subsequently engaged in scientific activities in the field of transport properties of metals, fluctuation phenomena in superconductors, as well as the physical properties of low-dimensional and amorphous metal systems.
After defending his Ph.D. thesis, Livanov began working at the institute's synthesis research laboratory, was a research fellow, and later a senior research fellow, and was an associate professor at the Department of Theoretical Physics at MISiS. He held positions at the Research Laboratory of Synthesis at MISiS until 2000. In 1997, Livanov, having defended his dissertation on the topic “Thermoelectric effect and heat transfer in electronic interaction systems,” became a Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. From 1997 to 2000, he served as deputy vice-rector of MISiS for scientific work, and in 2000 became vice-rector of the institute for international cooperation, concurrently working as a professor at the Department of Theoretical Physics of MISiS.
In parallel with his work at MISiS, Livanov continued to receive education in the humanitarian field and in 2003 graduated in absentia from the Moscow State Law Academy, receiving a diploma in the specialty "jurisprudence" (specialization "Civil Law"); some publications called “Civil Law” Livanov’s specialty.
In the spring of 2004, Livanov left his vice-rector’s post, receiving the position of director of the department of state scientific, technical and innovation policy of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. In addition, he moved to work as a part-time professor at the Department of Metallurgy of Non-Ferrous Metals at MISiS and retained this position until 2012.
From November 2005 to March 2007, Livanov was Secretary of State - Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation Andrei Fursenko. In this post, he became famous for his speeches in which a ministry official criticized the draft new charter of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN). In particular, Livanov insisted that all state academies adopt a different model version of the charter, prepared by the Ministry of Education and Science, which implied the separation of scientific and managerial functions of the academy, deprived it of the right to freely dispose of funds and demanded the introduction of supervisory boards with a predominance of state representatives. According to media reports, the Russian Academy of Sciences considered this option unacceptable and infringing on the rights of the academy, and Livanov himself was accused of attempting to “collapse fundamental science.” Ultimately, at the end of 2007, the government approved the charter written by the RAS itself, but due to the adopted amendments to the law “On Science,” the RAS partially lost its independence, losing, in particular, the right to independently approve its president and freely dispose of land property.
While working in the ministry, Livanov also acted as a representative of the state on the board of directors of OJSC Russian Venture Company, a structure created in accordance with a decree of the Russian government “to stimulate the creation of Russia’s own venture investment industry” by acquiring investment shares of venture funds, as well as “ development of innovative sectors of the economy and promotion of Russian high-tech technological products to the international market."
In April 2007, Livanov was elected rector of MISiS; was re-elected to this post in February 2012. Under the new rector, in the fall of 2008, MISiS, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, received the status of a National Research Technological University. The press noted that as the head of the university, Livanov, who called himself a student of Andrei Fursenko, “began to implement the very standards of modernization of science that he himself developed in the ministry”: in particular, MISiS “was one of the first to develop an independent strategy for the development of the university” and “ switched to a system of bachelor's and master's degrees."
Best of the day
On May 21, 2012, after the inauguration of Vladimir Putin, who was elected for a third term as President of Russia, and the appointment of Medvedev as Prime Minister, Livanov replaced Fursenko as Minister of Education and Science in the new government of the Russian Federation.
After his appointment, Livanov made a number of policy statements. In particular, the minister’s proposal to halve the number of budget-funded places in Russian universities and gradually abandon free higher education altogether, using other mechanisms, including educational loans, to finance the training of new specialists received a great response in the press. Meanwhile, even before his appointment as head of the department, Livanov opposed increasing the number of students in universities, believing that an overabundance of higher school students deprives, in particular, education in technical schools of prestige. He called for universities to switch to standard foreign testing systems, for example, in English. Livanov also continued to criticize the RAS, demanding further reform of the academy: he noted that in terms of scientific publications the academy lags behind universities, and experts, commenting on Livanov’s appointment, suggested that the new minister might again enter into a violent conflict with the RAS. They also drew attention to the fact that Livanov would have to be responsible for the adoption of the new law “On Education”, developed under Fursenko.
In mid-September 2012, President Vladimir Putin, during a meeting on the draft budget for 2013-2015, said that he was dissatisfied with the implementation of his instructions. In particular, in his decrees signed on May 7, 2012, Putin demanded an increase in salaries of public sector employees, expenses for contract military personnel, construction of roads and housing and communal services. It was noted that these decrees were based on the president’s election promises, and their implementation would require 1.077 trillion rubles of budget funds. However, the new budget, on the contrary, implied a reduction in spending on health care, education and culture. As a result, on September 19, 2012, Putin reprimanded Livanov, as well as the heads of the Ministry of Regional Development and the Ministry of Labor, Oleg Govorun and Maxim Topilin.
In the fall of the same year, Livanov and the department he headed were criticized after the Ministry of Education and Science published a list of Russian universities with “signs of inefficiency.” It includes more than 130 higher educational institutions of the country, including a number of well-known Moscow higher schools, such as the Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow Architectural Institute, and the Gorky Literary Institute. Those who published the lists were reproached for the incompetence and imperfection of their chosen methodology for assessing universities, which took into account the number of square meters per student, but did not take into account “the demand for graduates by employers, the level of their employment in real sectors of the economy, and the volume of innovative projects.”
Livanov was awarded the RAS gold medal for young scientists in 2000, and at the end of 2011 he was awarded the Russian Government Prize in the field of education. Since 2009, the scientist was included in the top hundred of the list of management personnel reserve compiled by President Dmitry Medvedev.
By the time of his appointment as minister, Livanov had more than 50 scientific publications; he was the author of the textbook for universities “Physics of Metals,” published in 2006.
Livanov is married and has two children. He is interested in theater and loves reading detective stories in English. In addition, he also speaks Italian.
Livanov Dmitry ViktorovichDmitry Viktorovich Livanov is a Russian statesman. Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation since May 21, 2012.
Biography
Education
1990 - graduated with honors from the Faculty of Physics and Chemistry of the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys () with a degree in Physics of Metals.
1997 - 2000 - was deputy vice-rector for scientific work.
2000 - March 2004 - Vice-Rector for International Cooperation; Professor of the Department of Theoretical Physics (part-time).
Since April 2004 - Professor of the Department of Metallurgy of Non-Ferrous Metals (part-time).
May 2004 - November 2005 - Director of the Department of State Scientific, Technical and Innovation Policy of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.
2005: Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
November 2005 - March 2007 - Secretary of State - Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.
2007: Rector of MISiS
Since April 2007 - Rector of the National Research Technological University.
2012: Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
Since May 21, 2012 - Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation in the government of Dmitry Medvedev.
September 17, 2012 - held a round table with the leadership of the Ministry of Education and Science, at which representatives of the department spoke about upcoming reforms.
October 27, 2012 - discussed the new law “On Education” at a meeting with bloggers in “free microphone” mode.
Interview with Minister of Education Dmitry Livanov
Dmitry Livanov on the development of Russian science
2016: Dismissal from the post of Minister of Education
On August 19, 2016, it was announced that Livanov would become the special representative of the Russian President for trade and economic relations with Ukraine. At a meeting with Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev noted that the government is strengthening work on priority projects, including in the field of education.
“In order to bring to life the ideas that have been formulated, new approaches, new powers, and in some cases, new people are required,” the Prime Minister explained.
Medvedev proposed appointing Olga Vasilyeva, an employee of the presidential administration, as minister instead of Livanov and noted that Vasilyeva has a good track record. She began her professional career as a teacher, worked at the Academy of Sciences, and has experience in public service, gained in the government apparatus and the presidential administration. “It seems to me that she is capable of implementing these new tasks,” Medvedev emphasized.
Dmitry Livanov - Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Russian statesman and scientist. From 2012 to 2016 he was the Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. Today we will introduce you to biography of Dmitry Livanov.
Origin
Dmitry Viktorovich Livanov was born on February 15, 1967 in Moscow in the family of aircraft designer Viktor Livanov, who later became the general director of the Design Bureau named after. Tupolev and one of the creators of the famous Il-96-300 aircraft. Dmitry's mother Tatyana Olegovna was a Doctor of Economic Sciences and president of the Titan-Aero aviation company. Her brother Dmitry Rogozin served as Deputy Prime Minister.
Education
Average education Dmitry Livanov received at Moscow school No. 91. He was an excellent student. The only subject in which the future politician did not have an “A” in his certificate was pre-conscription training. In 1990, Dmitry Viktorovich received higher education at the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys (MISiS) at the Faculty of Physics and Chemistry. After graduating from the educational institution with honors, Livanov went to full-time graduate school.
Scientific activity
In 1992, Dmitry defended his dissertation on the topic “Heat Transfer in Superconductors and Normal Metals” and became a candidate of physical and mathematical sciences. Subsequently, the future minister was actively involved in science, studying metals, superconductors, as well as the properties of amorphous and low-dimensional metal systems. Soon Livanov got a job in the synthesis laboratory at the MISiS Institute as a research assistant. Later, Dmitry Viktorovich became an associate professor of the Department of Theoretical Physics and senior researcher.
In 1997, the young scientist defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic “Thermoelectric effect and heat transfer in electronic systems.” In the same year, he became deputy vice-rector of his native university for scientific work. In 2000, Livanov became vice-rector of MISiSA for international cooperation. At the same time, he continued to work at the physics department, but now with the rank of professor.
In parallel with the institute career Dmitry Livanov received a second education in absentia. In 2003, he was awarded a diploma in jurisprudence from the Moscow Law Academy.
Department Director
In 2004 Dmitry Viktorovich Livanov appointed to the position of director of the department of state scientific and technical policy under the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia. He continued to work part-time as a professor at MISiS, only now at the department of non-ferrous metals. Dmitry Viktorovich remained here until 2012.
Secretary of State
In November 2005 Dmitry Livanov Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation Andrei Fursenko was appointed State Secretary. In this post he became widely known. The reason for this was Livanov’s speeches, in which he criticized the draft updated charter of the RAS (Russian Academy of Sciences). The newly appointed official believed that all state academies needed to adopt a different version of the charter, prepared by the Ministry of Education and Science. This document implied, first of all, the division of the academy’s functions into scientific and managerial, and also deprived it of the right to freely manage budget funds.
In addition, the model version of the charter proposed by the Ministry implied the introduction of supervisory boards consisting mainly of government representatives. The RAS did not want to agree to this option, believing that it infringes on the rights of the academy. Activity Dmitry Livanov at the same time they called it an attempt to “collapse fundamental science.”
One way or another, at the end of 2007, the government approved an updated charter written by the Academy of Sciences itself. Nevertheless, due to a number of amendments to the law “On Science,” the RAS lost its full independence. She lost the right to independently approve her president and freely dispose of land property.
While working in the ministry, Dmitry Viktorovich Livanov began to represent the state on the board of directors of the Russian Venture Company. This structure was created after the relevant government decree in order to stimulate the development of the venture investment industry in the Russian Federation. The company was engaged in the purchase of shares of venture funds, the development of innovative economic sectors and the promotion of Russian high-tech products to the international market.
Rector
In April 2007, Dmitry Viktorovich became rector of MISiS. In five years he will be re-elected to this post. At the end of 2008, by decree of Dmitry Medvedev, the educational institution received the status of National Technological Research University. Having become the head of the university, Livanov, who always called himself a student of A. Fursenko, began to introduce into the work of the educational institution the standards for the development of science, developed by him in the ministry. Thus, MISiS became one of the innovators in developing an independent university development strategy and transition to a system of master’s and bachelor’s degrees.
Minister
On May 21, 2012, when V. Putin again became the President of the Russian Federation, and D. Medvedev received the post of Prime Minister, the Minister of Education and Science A. Fursenko was replaced by his “student” D. Livanov.
After his appointment, Livanov immediately made a number of high-profile policy statements. He proposed reducing the number of budget places in Russian universities by half and starting to move towards a complete abandonment of free higher education. To finance the training of specialists, the minister proposed using other mechanisms, one of which is an educational loan.
It is worth noting that even before his appointment to a high post, Livanov actively opposed the increase in the number of students in universities, complaining that the overabundance of students casts doubt on the prestige of technical schools and vocational schools. Dmitry Viktorovich believed that universities should switch to standard foreign testing systems, including in English.
At the same time, Livanov continued to show his dissatisfaction with the activities of the Russian Academy of Sciences, demanding its reform. He noted that the Academy of Sciences lags behind universities in the quantity and quality of scientific publications. Commenting on Livanov’s appointment to the post of minister, experts predicted that his conflict with the Russian Academy of Sciences would enter a new phase. The situation was complicated by the fact that the politician had to be responsible for the adoption of the updated law “On Education”, the development of which was carried out under Fursenko.
Rebuke
In September 2012, the president, at a meeting on the draft budget for the next three years, said that he was dissatisfied with the way his instructions were being implemented. In particular, in decrees signed in May 2012, Putin demanded an increase in the salaries of public sector employees, as well as costs for road construction, maintenance of contract military personnel and the need for housing and communal services. These and other decrees were based on Putin's election promises and required more than a trillion rubles from the budget. However, the new budget, on the contrary, implied a reduction in spending on education, culture and health care. Therefore, on September 19, Putin reprimanded Livanov, Govorun (Minister of Regional Development) and Topilin (Minister of Labor).
"Ineffectiveness of universities"
In the fall of 2012, Livanov and his departmental employees published a list of Russian universities with “signs of inefficiency,” for which they were subjected to sharp criticism. This list includes 130 educational institutions of the Russian Federation, including a number of prestigious Moscow universities, such as Moscow Architectural Institute, Russian State University for the Humanities, and. Gorky and others.
The people who published this list were accused of incompetence, and their methodology for evaluating educational institutions was accused of imperfection. She took into account the number of square meters of space per student, but did not take into account such serious aspects as the volume of innovative projects, the demand for graduates in the labor market, their level of employment, and so on.
The issue with orphans
At the end of 2012, Ekaterina Lakhovaya, a State Duma deputy from the United Russia party, introduced a law banning the adoption of Russian orphans by American citizens. Livanov sharply criticized this law. In response to this, Lakhova accused him of incompetence and stated that he did not understand the work of his department. Meanwhile, according to the relevant provision, issues of children's rights fall within the competence of the Ministries of Education and Science. In addition, one of the structural divisions of the department is the Department responsible for state policy in the field of protecting children's rights.
Conflict with the Russian Academy of Sciences and a drop in ratings
On March 24, in one of his interviews, he called the Russian Academy of Sciences an organization that is “ineffective and unfriendly to the people who work in it.” In addition, he added that in terms of productivity, the Russian Academy of Sciences is deteriorating. The politician justified his last judgment by the age of the academy’s leaders. Offended by this attitude towards themselves, the latter demanded the resignation of the minister.
In March 2013, VTsIOM conducted a survey, the task of which was to find out the level of trust in the government on the part of the population. The majority of respondents believed that the Minister of Education and Science does the worst job. Livanov's average rating in the survey was 2.6 on a 5-point scale. Nevertheless, already in November of the same year, the minister restored his reputation, taking 63rd place in the ranking of “100 leading Russian politicians” according to the Nezavisimaya Gazeta publication.
In July 2013, Livanov stated that he had no direct connection with the bill on the reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which caused a negative reaction in the scientific community. On July 9 of the same year, the Prosecutor General's Office submitted a report to the minister regarding violations related to the implementation of programs to modernize the education system in the regions.
At the beginning of 2016, the Minister of Science and Education received another submission from the prosecutor’s office. This time the reason was violations of the rules of the state data bank on orphans by Livanov’s subordinates.
Reduction in the number of universities
On April 7, 2015, Dmitry Viktorovich said that the ministry under his control plans to reduce the number of lagging universities in the next two years and begin more active support for leading universities. The reduction would mainly affect private educational institutions and those that are branches of state universities.
According to Livanov, the quality of education in such institutions leaves much to be desired and undermines the reputation of Russian higher education. The Minister of Education and Science noted that in 2015 the number of universities in Russia was five times higher than the number in the USSR. The reason for this was the emergence of a huge number of private educational institutions in the 90s. Most of them, according to Livanov, cannot boast of having mechanisms for establishing the educational process, qualified employees and other attributes of a good university.
Number of scientists
In September 2015 politician Dmitry Livanov stated that for the first time in the last 15 years the number of scientists in Russia has increased. Due to the loss of funding and interest among young people in science, the field experienced a major setback in the 1990s. As a result, scientists either changed jobs or went abroad. Since then, the negative trend has been gaining momentum. In 2014, the number of Russian scientists began to grow, which, according to Livanov, indicates the right direction of government policy in the field of science.
On August 19, 2016, Livanov was appointed to the position Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for Trade and Economic Relations with Ukraine. He was replaced as Minister of Science and Education by Olga Yuryevna Vasilyeva.
Dmitry Livanov: awards and achievements
In addition to two dissertations, Dmitry Viktorovich has in his track record more than 60 scientific publications, 80% of which were written for foreign publications. He is also the author of the textbook “Physics of Metals,” published in 2006. As a young scientist, Livanov received a gold medal from the Russian Academy of Sciences for one of his cycles of scientific work. In 2011, he was awarded a government prize as a representative of the educational sector.
Dmitry Livanov: family
Livanov is married to Mordkovich Olga Anatolyevna, who was born in 1967. In 1989, she graduated from the University of Oil and Gas with a degree in applied mathematics. Since 2004, Olga Anatolyevna has been working at Tele2 as head of the billing and information technology department. In 2012, Livanova was awarded the IT Leader Award. The couple have three children: two natural and one adopted. As Dmitry Livanov has said many times, children are successfully involved in music and tennis.
Income
According to the anti-corruption declaration, in 2014, Dmitry Livanov, whose biography we reviewed, earned 37.5 million rubles. He is a co-owner of a land plot of 160 m2, as well as the owner of a residential building (49 m2), two apartments (total area - 249 m2), and a garage (20 m2).
Since the end of spring 2012, the name of this man is well known to Russian students, schoolchildren, as well as their parents. And there is nothing surprising here - after all, Dmitry Livanov occupies the chair of the Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, which means he directly influences the lives of the above categories of the population. His track record includes more than one high-profile reform in the field of education, his steps are often criticized, but the state continues to trust him with a high post... What inspires an official to continue his active work?
“I will work as long as the employer has confidence in my work,” the minister once said, and this quote from Dmitry Livanov spread across many domestic media at one time.
Where did Livanov come from to the very top of the Russian state pyramid? Who is he? How did you differ from other statesmen? How did you rise to your current position and what does it look like as a manager?
Origins
Dmitry Viktorovich Livanov first saw the light of day on February 15, 1967. He was born into a family of Moscow intelligentsia. His grandfather was a KGB colonel, and his father Viktor Livanov was a famous aircraft designer who created the Il-96-300 aircraft and at some time headed the Ilyushin Aviation Design Bureau.
Dmitry's parents divorced when the boy was very young, and almost nothing is known about his mother. But we know about the stepmother - Rogozina Tatyana Olegovna, who is only 14 years older than her stepson. My father's second wife turned out to be a match for her husband. She is a Doctor of Economics, and has held high leadership positions all her life.
The future minister Dmitry Livanov began his education at Moscow school No. 91, from which he graduated as an excellent student - young Livanov only had a B in basic military training. With such a certificate and such an origin, the path opened up quite broadly and with great prospects for the young and capable Muscovite...
graduate School
Naturally, after school, Dmitry Livanov goes on to study further. And he chooses the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys (specialty “physics of metals”). He graduated from MISiS in 1990 with honors, after which he spent another two years in graduate school here. Then he defended his dissertation and in 1992 received a PhD in physical and mathematical sciences. 
And after just 5 years, Livanov already sported the degree of “Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences” (specialization - solid state physics). Later (in 2003) he received another higher education, graduating in absentia from the Moscow State Academy of Law, which was very useful to him later in his future managerial work.
Carier start
It is completely natural that Dmitry Livanov began his career in the scientific field; his education contributed to this. He didn’t have to go far - the talented graduate student was left to work at his native university immediately after defending his PhD thesis. At first he was just a researcher at the MISiS synthesis laboratory. Then he became a senior researcher, then held the position of associate professor at the department of theoretical physics. And even later he worked as vice-rector for international cooperation, combining it with professorship in the same department.
From scientists to managers
In the spring of 2004, Dmitry Livanov, whose biography had previously been associated exclusively with science, decided to make a sharp turn in his career. He was invited to head the department of state scientific, technical and innovation policy in the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. And he agreed.
True, he did not completely part with MISiS, continuing to be a professor there until 2012, only this time at the department of metallurgy and non-ferrous metals. From the end of autumn 2005 until the beginning of spring 2007, Livanov served as Secretary of State, replacing the then Minister of Education and Science Andrei Fursenko.
In this position, Dmitry Viktorovich first announced himself throughout the country and caused a storm of criticism. He called for the rights of the country's state academies to be cut, effectively depriving them of the ability to independently manage funds, land, etc. According to the concept developed by the official, the scientific and managerial functions of such institutions should be clearly separated.
Livanov was accused of trying to ruin domestic fundamental science - and the RAS (Russian Academy of Sciences) was especially loudly indignant.
Ultimately, the government approved the charter that was developed by the academicians themselves. But thanks to Livanov’s efforts and some amendments to the law, the rights of academies were largely curtailed. For example, they could no longer dispose of land uncontrollably and appoint their own presidents.
Rector of MISiS
Meanwhile, Dmitry Viktorovich’s connection with his native institute was not interrupted. He remained a professor at MISiS, and in 2007 he was elected rector of this university.
Under Livanov, the educational institution is undergoing dramatic changes. The new leader puts into practice the theoretical developments that he developed during his tenure in the ministry. For example, MISiS was the first Russian university to switch to a foreign system of bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
In 2008, Dmitry Medvedev, who at that time held the post of President of Russia, assigned the institute a higher status - it became the National Research Technological University. And Dmitry Livanov, as a promising employee, entered the top hundred of the Russian management personnel reserve.
Minister
Vladimir Putin, who again headed the Russian Federation in the spring of 2012, considered that such valuable personnel should not remain in the shadows. And already in May of the same year, a member of the United Russia party and the rector of one of the most prestigious universities in the country, Dmitry Livanov became the Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, replacing his former boss Fursenko in this post. And literally from the very first days, vigorous activity began, which shook the entire sphere of domestic education and caused more than one scandal in Russian society. And continues to periodically call them to this day.
Livanov's initiatives
The Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation D. Livanov, not yet being the head of the department, believed that there were too many students in Russia. He did not change his beliefs after 2012. Already as a minister, he openly declared the need to reduce budget places in universities by almost half, followed by the elimination of “free” programs as such and the introduction of a system of educational loans.
Livanov also advocated the introduction of strict testing for admission to universities - on the model of foreign systems, and proposed, in addition to the Unified State Exam, to introduce additional exams for applicants upon admission.
In his opinion, the state has absolutely no need for an abundance of people with diplomas from academies, universities and institutes, when there is no one to study in vocational schools and, accordingly, there is no one to work in factories.
Dmitry Viktorovich’s conflict with the Russian Academy of Sciences continued, the level of which he publicly called lower than that of ordinary universities, and demanded reform. In addition, in the fall of 2012, the Russian Ministry of Education and Science published a list of higher educational institutions in the country that, according to department officials, were operating ineffectively.
Scandals and criticism
Due to the vicissitudes associated with the Russian Academy of Sciences and other scandalous projects, a member of the United Russia party, Livanov, almost flew out of this organization. He was sharply criticized in the scientific community, and State Duma deputies seriously sought to deprive the minister of membership in the most influential Russian party structure. Livanov’s reaction to such attempts was to declare that he was not the author of the project to reform the academy.
The actions of the Minister of Education and Science were also seriously criticized by Vladimir Putin, who reprimanded him and accused him of failing to fulfill his obligations. This was in the fall of 2012, and a year later the President actually took back his words.
Among the scandals of a smaller scale is the situation with the law prohibiting foreigners from adopting Russian children. Livanov came out categorically against him, which caused a wave of negativity in certain circles.
Also on everyone’s lips was the story of the theft of budget funds, in which the prosecutor’s office tried to prove Dmitry Viktorovich’s involvement. According to prosecutors, the state budget was deprived of the equivalent of one million dollars due to the fact that Livanov allegedly illegally contracted Teplokon LLC for work on the reconstruction of the MISiS building.
Another “fire” broke out in society after Dmitry Livanov’s publication on his microblog, where the Minister of Education and Science angrily spoke about the work of one of the cellular companies, using obscene expressions and making a bunch of grammatical errors. Many were outraged by this behavior of a person who should be a standard of culture and literacy. Users on social networks and journalists in the media sarcastically asked whether Dmitry Livanov himself would be able to pass the Unified State Exam, which is used to “torture” all Russian school graduates?.. The minister, in turn, made excuses and said that he did not write the text for the microblog.
There were other scandals associated with the name of Dmitry Livanov. But he stubbornly continues to stick to his line, despite criticism. One of the official’s latest initiatives was the decision to reduce the number of universities in the country. In his opinion, many institutions (especially non-state ones) are frankly weak and should not take up a place in the sun by crippling the minds of their students.
Awards and outstanding achievements of Dmitry Livanov
In addition to his candidate and doctoral dissertations, Dmitry Viktorovich Livanov can boast of other achievements. For example, his track record includes more than 60 scientific publications (about 50 of them in foreign media) and the authorship of a textbook for higher educational institutions, “Physics of Metals,” which was published in 2006.
For one of the cycles of scientific work, Livanov, as a young scientist, was awarded a gold medal by the Russian Academy of Sciences. And in 2011, he won a government award as a representative of the educational sector.
What is the minister's hobbies?
From time to time, Russians ask how many languages Dmitry Livanov knows, who is largely oriented towards the West and advocates for tougher admissions tests, in particular in English.
Of course, he cannot be considered a polyglot, but in addition to Russian, the minister is fluent in Italian and, naturally, English. In the latter, he writes his scientific works for foreign media, and also loves to read detective stories in the original. In general, this genre of literature is Dmitry Viktorovich’s passion.
He also loves theater and has a passion for extreme travel. For example, many people remember Livanov’s high-profile vacation, spent at the North Pole. Just then the whole country was discussing a terrible story, during which a 55-year-old teacher ordered the murder of her 13-year-old student, who did not reciprocate her sinful passion... People believed that the Minister of Education should have been at work at such a shameful moment for the country . At least until the investigation is completed. And they condemned him for leaving.
Livanov's personal life
Almost from his school days, the charming and attractive Dmitry Livanov was considered an eligible bachelor. During his student days, he led a stormy personal life, and they say that one of the novels ended in the birth of a child. There is information that the boy was named Konstantin, and that Livanov, although not immediately, recognized his son. True, this information has not been confirmed in official sources. And the minister himself prefers not to talk about this topic.
But it is reliably known that Dmitry Viktorovich has been married since his student days. But here again there is confusion. According to some sources, he was married not to anyone, but to the daughter of the then rector of MISiS Yuri Karabasov, who, in addition, was allegedly Livanov’s scientific supervisor. This fact is indicated in many biographical information and causes idle gossip.
People say with irony that Dmitry Livanov, whose wife is the daughter of such an influential person, simply could not help but successfully graduate from the institute and defend his dissertations. Moreover, while others needed many years to protect themselves, here everything happened with amazing speed. Naturally, no one wants to connect such efficiency with the talent and hard work of the future minister. But they are willing to connect with his personal life.
According to other sources, Livanov’s wife Olga Anatolyevna Mordkovich has nothing to do with the rector of MISiS, and all this is an invention of journalists. Among such sources, an important role is played by Olga’s own interview, in which she is surprised at the innocence of people who believed gossip. After all, neither her last name nor patronymic is in any way connected with Mr. Karabasov.
Well, Olga Anatolyevna was born in 1967, on June 15, and is almost exactly the same age as her husband. She is a mathematics major. Has a diploma from the Russian State University of Oil and Gas named after. Gubkina. She works in the IT field and was even nominated for a national award in this field.
The couple has three children. Two of them are relatives - a son and a daughter, and Livanov and Mordkovich adopted one boy at the age of one. The Minister of Education and Science has repeatedly joked that he has someone to practice on in terms of education and training technologies, because he is a father of many children. Whether Livanov’s children criticize Dmitry for his experiments is unknown... 
But even so, he continues to remain an active and proactive person who always strives only forward and is ready to break through to the stars through the thorns of the most dense scandals.
Whether the minister's political activity is successful and whether his work is for the benefit of the country - this will be decided by the Russians. We will not draw any conclusions. But in the end, we will cite one popular joke that circulates among the masses and enjoys great success among many citizens of our country.
Folk joke
Since Livanov became Minister of Education, the quality of the latter has increased several times. Moreover, our education successfully competes with European and American ones, and sometimes is even more prestigious. This has been proven by an authoritative scientific study conducted in the Moscow metro. It turned out that Russian diplomas are sold there at a higher price than their counterparts from Cambridge and Oxford, lying on neighboring shelves.
There is a holiday in the country. This person has been transferred to another job. In the government, his position was considered “execution”. We were told that “a minister is not a ruble to please everyone.”
It sounded harsh, but strange. The educated people in our country are overwhelmed by the thirst for profit. The intelligentsia just wants to live with dignity and mind their own business. Teachers, doctors, engineers begin to worry about the ruble only when the government cannot improve the economy and turns them into beggars.
Why does the country love Lavrov and Shoigu? Yes, because they love the country and do their job well. And both of them have more complex areas than the Ministry of Education. Livanov was required to be a professional and take care of schools, universities, and scientific institutions. Treat people decently who work honestly and have become dependent on him. Alas, we did not expect this from Dmitry Viktorovich.
An interesting paradox: the country's leadership considers education the most important government priority. Over the past 15 years, the amount of spending on the university sector alone has increased almost 20 times. And education is falling apart. The officials and pseudo-scientists implementing them, as well as the group of grant recipients formed as a result of very peculiar competitions, are happy with the reforms.
Parents are clutching their heads when they see what and how their children are taught from an early age. And the heads of companies and institutions in almost all spheres of the country’s life have been in deep anxiety for many years due to the insufficient qualifications of new generations entering life. And there is no change for the better. What is the huge amount of government money actually spent on? To nonsense that is obvious to professionals. For things that are completely unrelated to the real educational process, such as the purchase of equipment for universities, on which there is no one to work, mega-grants for foreign scientists and conveyors for preparing articles for Western journals.
By force, contrary to the opinion of the university community, a bachelor's degree was introduced. In fact, specialist training was reduced by one year. They dropped 20 percent of classroom activities from the curriculum. Huge sums of money were paid to mercenaries who distorted educational plans. Significant efforts were required for universities to switch to this disgrace. So what, the quality of preparation won? And the master's program is a parody of graduate school, much shorter and with a much weaker output. As a result, six years of study give much worse results compared to a five-year specialty. Postgraduate studies have been transformed from a form of scientific activity into an educational one, and our science will feel the severe consequences of this transformation in the very near future.
Only the lazy don’t talk about the Unified State Exam. In high school, instead of developing creative qualities, our children are forced to train themselves to solve tests. The most important years for the development of creativity are spent on activities that are essentially harmful. Is it really true that modern Russia, unlike the USSR, does not need a creative personality type? It should be added that the introduction of the Unified State Exam destroyed the traditional and very important mechanisms of interaction between schools and universities, and at the same time the work on career guidance for high school students. It was not difficult to eradicate abuses in admission to universities - just jail five to ten bribe-takers from “elite” universities. Instead, the interaction of all universities with applicants is now focused not on conscientious teaching staff, but on some kind of crook. The abuses have not decreased, but instead of strengthening universities in the provinces, talented children are being pulled to the center. True, poor families cannot support them there during their studies. Are we turning the province into a septic tank for the poor and untalented? A good future for the country...
The list of harmful changes is huge. Not only for universities, of course. It's even harder for schools. I have been working as a rector for 25 years, there is something to compare what is happening with. But I cannot rejoice at a single ministerial innovation of the Livanov period. It’s funny and bitter: today’s Ministry of Science and Education has not learned to evaluate either the results of scientific research or the quality of education. Doesn't even know what it is. All the steam goes into collecting papers, subordinating those who disagree, and self-promotion. Administrative resources are systematically used to the detriment of the cause: the destruction of academic science, the beating of qualified management personnel, the installation of “our own” in key positions, the purchase of allies with essentially unjustified funding, the formation of a pseudo-expert community, relationships based on the principle of “support us or leave.”
To be fair, it should be said that many Lebanese reforms were planned even before Livanov. However, even then their harmfulness was obvious to specialists. Dmitry Viktorovich made the controversial inevitable. Under him, the ministry turned into an absolutely ideological and dictatorial body, unencumbered by common sense. From the outside it might seem that these are reforms for the sake of reforms. When every step causes dire consequences, and eliminating the consequences gives rise to even worse results. And the only point is that someone is making money from this terrible process. But the ideological aspect was absolutely clear: to destroy all the achievements of the USSR and achieve at least a remote resemblance to the West. Everyone who does not agree with this vector of change is an enemy. And the enemy either surrenders or is destroyed.
Livanov is a fanatic of the idea of mindlessly copying the West. To call him mediocrity would be unfair. A bright personality, a talented organizer, a born official, a man with iron willpower. The scale of these qualities is comparable only to the depth of his ignorance in the field of science and education.
The minister turned out to be absolutely impervious to any ideas other than those born in his ideological circle, even if his ideas were delusional. He destroyed everything inherited from the USSR. But what he built turned out to be stillborn. He did not understand that education is part of the culture of the people, inextricably linked with it by thousands of invisible threads. I thought that I could change it, like a suit in a wardrobe. I had a very vague idea about Western education. Surprisingly, having worked as a minister for so many years, Dmitry Viktorovich is still not aware of the truths known to the ancient Greeks - for example, that education consists of training and upbringing. That is, it simply cannot exist without education. As a result, the state has transferred the function of education to the means of mass communications, and education in schools and universities is failing.
Livanov’s worldview is based on the idea that money is not a means, but the goal of a person’s life. Hence his understanding of education as a service and his desire to turn it into a business. He seriously believed that schools and universities would dramatically improve the quality of their work if they were made commercial entities. But this did not happen - simply because it could not happen. Misunderstanding of the essence of education did not allow Livanov to organize monitoring of the work of universities without scandals. It also forced us to turn to ratings - quackery, widespread abroad. When you cannot develop quality criteria, it is logical to leave its assessment to Western wizards. There is no basis for the reformers' assertions that university science in Russia is more promising than academic science, that large universities, in principle, work better than small ones. Etc. and so on.
One of the most negative processes of our time is the total subordination of scientists and teachers to officials, the spread of the vertical power structure to the academic sphere. In Russia of the 21st century, the concept of academic autonomy has rapidly dissolved. Possession of bureaucratic power now turns out to be more important than knowledge and professionalism. Under the banner of democratic reconstruction, a stupid command-administrative spirit is being implanted, which did not exist either under the Tsar or during the era of militant communism. And the office is increasingly replacing the real deal. After all, the state controls our work only on paper; no one cares about what actually happens in classrooms and scientific laboratories.
With whom can we compare the minister who vacated his chair last Friday? It contains, and not a little, from various historical and literary characters. From Dzerzhinsky's ardent associates to Baron Munchausen. I also remember the wizard from Pugacheva’s song: “I wanted to make a thunderstorm, but I got a goat.” But the closest is, perhaps, Trofim Lysenko. Times change, but Lysenkoism does not leave the historical arena. Only now anti-science and dense ignorance are dressed up in the garb of “reforms”, “progress”, “increasing competitiveness in the global world”.
What will happen next? Here's the question. Livanov, after all, is a representative of a whole layer of managers who profess the notorious “neoliberal” ideology. And this layer has proven in practice its business failure. Apparently, a change in the vector of development is on the agenda. Despite all the hardships of the past years, Russian education and science still have enormous potential. The only question is how to use it wisely for the benefit of the country.