Ivan Oleksandrovych Vakarchuk (; 6 March 1947 – 4 April 2020) was a Ukrainian and Soviet physicist, politician and social activist. From 1990 to 2007 and again between 2010 and 2013 he was rector of the Lviv University. In 2007–2010 he was Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine.

Hero of Ukraine A Hero of Ukraine (HOU; ) is the highest national decoration that can be conferred upon an individual citizen by the president of Ukraine. The decoration was created in 1998 by President Leonid Kuchma. As of 6 June 2025, the total number of re ...

(awarded on 5 March 2007), he was father of the leader of the rock band Okean Elzy Svyatoslav Vakarchuk.Former Rector of Lviv University Ivan Vakarchuk died

UNIAN The Ukrainian Independent Information Agency of News () is a Kyiv-based Ukraine, Ukrainian news agency. It produces and provides political, business and financial information, and a photo reporting service. As of October 2022, it was the most v ...

(4 March 2020)

Early life

Ivan Vakarchuk was born on 6 March 1947 in the village of Brătușeni, Edineț District,

Moldavian SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic or Moldavian SSR (, mo-Cyrl, Република Советикэ Сочиалистэ Молдовеняскэ), also known as the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldovan SSR, Soviet Moldavia, Sovie ...

Education

In 1965 Vakarchuk received his secondary education by finishing with honours a local middle school in Brătușeni. In 1965–1970 he studied at the Faculty of Physics at the

University of Lviv The Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (named after Ivan Franko, ) is a state-sponsored university in Lviv, Ukraine. Since 1940 the university is named after Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko. The university is the oldest institution of highe ...

. From 1970 to 1973 he continued his studies at

postgraduate research Postgraduate research represents a formal area of study that is recognized by a university or institute of higher learning. The notion of "postgraduate" refers to studies following a undergraduate degree. Postgraduate research either occurs within ...

(aspirantura) of the Lviv section of condensed state statistical theory of the Institute of Theoretical Physics, affiliated with the

Ukrainian Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU; , ; ''NAN Ukrainy'') is a self-governing state-funded organization in Ukraine that is the main center of development of Science and technology in Ukraine, science and technology by coordinatin ...

.Основні дати життя і діяльності Івана Вакарчука
Иван Вакарчук (Ivan Vakarchuk) - все о знаменитости
/ref>
In 1974 he defended his candidature thesis "Application of the method of displacements and collective variables in the study of interacting Bose particles near absolute zero", and in 1980 his doctoral thesis "Microscopic theory of Bose liquid".
/ref> Ivan Vakarchuk represented the Lviv school of statistical physics founded by Ihor Yukhnovskyi, member of the

National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU; , ; ''NAN Ukrainy'') is a self-governing state-funded organization in Ukraine that is the main center of development of Science and technology in Ukraine, science and technology by coordinatin ...

Career

From 1973 to 1984 Ivan Vakarchuk worked at the Lviv branch of the Institute for Theoretical Physics affiliated with the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (now is the Institute of Condensed Matter Physics of National Academy of Sciences) as junior

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

, senior researcher and head of

quantum statistics Particle statistics is a particular description of multiple particles in statistical mechanics. A key prerequisite concept is that of a statistical ensemble (an idealization comprising the state space of possible states of a system, each labeled w ...

department.
After 1984, Vakarchuk began performing the duties of Professor, head of department of

theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict List of natural phenomena, natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental p ...

at the University of Lviv.Вакарчук Иван. ДОСЬЕ :: Персональный сайт Сергея Руденко
/ref>
On 13 November 1990 Ivan Vakarchuk was elected the rector of Lviv University and worked until November 2007.
Later he held this office again between 2010 and 2013. During the 2004' presidential elections, Vakarchuk openly called students to vote for

Viktor Yushchenko Viktor Andriiovych Yushchenko (, ; born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010. He aimed to orient Ukraine towards Western world, the West, European Union, and N ...

. In 2008 he took the 50th place in the Top 100 of the most influential Ukrainians, according to Reporter magazine. On 18 December 2007 Vakarchuk was appointed the Minister of education and science of Ukraine.

Scientific achievements

Ivan Vakarchuk has the rank of Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor, PhD with the thesis: "Application of the method of displacements and collective variables in the study of interacting Bose particles near absolute zero" (Institute for Theoretical Physics, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, 1974) doctoral thesis on "Microscopic theory of Bose liquid" (Institute for Theoretical Physics, Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, 1980). A distinctive feature of professor Ivan Vakarchuk was the breadth of his scientific interests: physics of quantum liquids, theory of

phase transitions In physics, chemistry, and other related fields like biology, a phase transition (or phase change) is the physical process of transition between one state of a medium and another. Commonly the term is used to refer to changes among the basic Sta ...

and

critical phenomena In physics, critical phenomena is the collective name associated with the physics of critical points. Most of them stem from the divergence of the correlation length, but also the dynamics slows down. Critical phenomena include scaling relations ...

, physics of disordered systems, magnetic systems, mathematical methods in theoretical physics, fundamental problems of

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is the fundamental physical Scientific theory, theory that describes the behavior of matter and of light; its unusual characteristics typically occur at and below the scale of atoms. Reprinted, Addison-Wesley, 1989, It is ...

and quantum computer sciences,

geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and Physical property, properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct i ...

general relativity theory General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity, and as Einstein's theory of gravity, is the differential geometry, geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of grav ...

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wo ...

philosophy of science Philosophy of science is the branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. Amongst its central questions are the difference between science and non-science, the reliability of scientific theories, ...

. In each of these fields he proposed new original approaches to the study of various physical phenomena and processes. Ivan Vakarchuk paid particular attention to the latest achievements in science and philosophy of science issues, including the relationship between research methods of natural sciences and humanities, identifying common math mechanisms that "manage" the processes occurring in the humanitarian and social spheres.
He is the author of over 240 scientific papers, and author of the books "Lectures on General Relativity" (1991), "Quantum Mechanics" (1998, 2004, 2007, 2012) "Introduction to the many-body problem" (1999) and "The Theory of Stellar Spectra" (2003).

Titles and awards

Activism

* Founder and Editor-in-chief of the "Journal of Physics Research" and the popular science magazine "World of Physics" * Member of the Commission of state awards and

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...

* Member of the Committee on State Prizes of Ukraine in science and technology * Vice-President of the Union of rectors of higher educational establishments of Ukraine * Member of the editorial board of the journal "Higher Education in Ukraine" * Chairman of the board of the Lviv Regional Peace Council * President of the Ukrainian Physical Society * Member of the Council on Science and Science and Technology Policy under the President of Ukraine * Member of the organizing committee for the preparation and celebration of the 1020th anniversary of Baptism of Kyivan Rus

Awards and titles

Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

, 3rd class (February 2005) *

(Order of State, 2007) * Honour Badge of the President of Ukraine (1996) * Merited Functionary of Science and Technology of Ukraine (2006) * State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technology (2000) * Honorary Doctor of the Cracow Pedagogical Academy * Honorary Doctor of

University of Wrocław The University of Wrocław (, UWr; ) is a public research university in Wrocław, Poland. It is the largest institution of higher learning in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, with over 100,000 graduates since 1945, including some 1,900 researcher ...

* Recipient of the Barabashov Prize of the

* Diploma by the Presidium of the

"Expert of Public Education in the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

" (1983) * Diploma of Merit by the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR (1977, 1981)

Personal life

Family

Ivan Vakarchuk was married, his wife Svetlana (b. 1947) is teacher of physics, assistant professor of Lviv National Stepan Gzhytsky University of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnology.
They had two sons: Svyatoslav Vakarchuk (b. 1975), who was a Ukrainian politician, founder of Holos party and frontman of "Okean Elzy", the famous Ukrainian rock band, and Oleg (b. 1980) - a bank employee.

Death

Vakarchuk died on 4 April 2020, at the age of 73 in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

. The cause of death was not reported.

References

External links

Biography of Professor Ivan Vakarchuk at the official web site of Lviv National University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vakarchuk, Ivan 1947 births 2020 deaths Education and science ministers of Ukraine Chevaliers of the Order of Merit (Ukraine) People from Edineț District Moldovan emigrants to Ukraine 20th-century Ukrainian physicists University of Lviv alumni Recipients of the title of Hero of Ukraine People of the Euromaidan University of Lviv rectors Soviet physicists Laureates of the State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technology