АЛЕКСАНДР ПЕТРОВИЧ БЫЧКОВ: ЖИЗНЬ КАК СЛУЖЕНИЕ УНИВЕРСИТЕТУ

Abstract

The publication is dedicated to the contribution of Professor Aleksandr Petrovich Bychkov (1921–2009) to the development of Tomsk State University. Bychkov devoted more than 50 years of his life to Tomsk State University (TSU). As the rector of TSU (1967–1983), he made a significant impact on the improvement of not only TSU, but the entire scientific and educational complex of Tomsk Oblast. As the rector, Bychkov worked a lot and fruitfully on strengthening the material base, raising the scientific and pedagogical level of professors and research workers of faculties and research institutes and, on this basis, the level of training of university specialists. Throughout its history, Tomsk State University has striven for a close combination of training highly qualified specialists with conducting fundamental and applied scientific research. In this regard, an important event for the university was the opening (1968) of the Research Institute of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (the first director was A.D. Kolmakov). In the same 1968 the Research Institute of Biology and Biophysics was opened (the first director was V.A. Pegel). One of the indicators of the recognition of TSU’s merits in the field of scientific work was the approval of Tomsk State University as the basic university of the West Siberian Scientific and Methodological Council of the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education of the RSFSR. The contribution of Tomsk State University named after V.V. Kuibyshev in the training of highly qualified specialists and in the development of science was marked by the awarding of TSU with the Order of the October Revolution in 1980. Over 70 professors and teachers were awarded orders and medals. In the 1960s–1970s, when Bychkov was TSU’s rector, the material base of the university improved noticeably. A new building of the Research Library was put into operation, including a 12-tier storage for 2.5 million volumes; three buildings for research institutes, a sports complex, a university stadium, four dormitories for students and one for graduate students, four apartment buildings for teachers and scientific workers, a children’s center (in Yuzhnaya Square) were built. In 1970, the reconstruction of the tropical greenhouse of the Botanical Garden began. As a rector, Bychkov used to delve into all the little details in the economic life of the university, attend lectures and exams (he attended the lectures of all professors who worked at TSU at that time); he also found time for intensive social work. Bychkov was one of the initiators of “Professor Days” (since 1978) when professors and associate professors organized lectures and talks at enterprises and in districts of the region. He was recognized for his benevolence, abilities to hear the interlocutor, to unite and motivate to accomplish the assigned task. Optimist by nature, he was able to instill optimism in those around him.