Nikolay Kirov Nikolov

Abstract

Professor Nikolay Kirov Nikolov graduated in Chemistry from Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’, Bulgaria, in 1968. He received his Ph.D. degree in 1973, D.Sc. in 1988 and was appointed to the position of Professor of Physics in the Institute of Solid State Physics (ISSP), Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), in 1989. Prof. Kirov rose to become an international authority in the area of molecular spectroscopy, and in particular in the vibrational spectroscopy of thermotropic liquid crystals.Prof. Kirov was a scientist of high reputation both in Bulgaria and globally. His scientific papers, numbering some 150, focus on the physics of liquid crystals. His systematic investigations of the vibrational spectroscopy of a wide class of thermotropic liquid crystals were collected in the monograph Vibrational spectroscopy of liquid crystals (1984), in which the molecular structure and properties of various liquid crystals, vibrational assignments, orientational order parameters and their calculation by molecular dynamics are presented. A range of liquid crystal materials was categorised and reported in his second book Atlas of vibrational spectra of liquid crystals (1988). Both publications remain a valuable source of information for specialists in the field of molecular spectroscopy. The outstanding contributions and growing reputation of Prof. Kirov led to periods as Visiting Scientist in the Universities of Parma, Calabria and Wroclaw. His abilities as a scientific organizer and leader were also notable, and led to a long and distinguished period of service in the Institute of Solid State Physics, being first appointed in 1980 as Scientific Secretary, and subsequently as Head of the Laboratory of Optics and Spectroscopy (1990-1998) and Director of the Institute (1991-1999). He was Chairman of the Scientific Council of ISSP over this period, and a member of the Specialized Scientific Council on Condensed Matter Physics. Prof. Kirov was a member of the High Testimonial Committee of the Republic of Bulgaria during 1996.Nikolay Kirov was a key figure in the organization, promotion and success of the International School on Condensed Matter Physics (ISCMP), where he was able to use his network of international contacts to excellent effect. He served as Scientific Secretary (1988-1990), Chairman and Editor of the ISCMP Proceedings (1992-1998), and as Chairman Emeritus (2002-2012).Prof. Kirov is an Honorary Member of the Institute of Solid State Physics. He received the Honorary Diploma ‘Nicola Obreshkov’ in 1986 and the “Marin Drinov” Sign of Honour BAS (on a ribbon) in 1998, for achievements in the physical and mathematical sciences. He was also honoured outside his native Bulgaria, receiving a Gold Medal from Wroclaw University, Poland, in recognition of successful scientific collaborations in the area of molecular structure.