Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
At an extraordinary meeting of the SPbPU Academic Council, a ceremony was held to award the diploma, gown, and badge of Honorary Doctor of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University to Georgy Fokin, General Director of Gazprom Transgaz Saint Petersburg, Doctor of Engineering Sciences, and Professor. The decision to confer the title was unanimously adopted by the members of the SPbPU Academic Council on May 23, 2025.
"We are honored to welcome representatives of Gazprom into our Polytechnic family," SPbPU Rector Andrey Rudskoy welcomed the distinguished guest. "Through you, we will continue our creative, scientific, and educational collaboration, which has linked us for many years. First and foremost, we will do everything we can to ensure that you employ top-class engineers. And, of course, we will conduct joint scientific research. We will work together for the benefit of our country and to achieve technological leadership. This is a tremendous task, one we are capable of."
The partnership with Gazprom Transgaz Saint Petersburg (a subsidiary of PJSC Gazprom) has become one of the most significant and productive for the Polytechnic University. In 2014, the university established a specialized department, "Gas Turbine Units for Gas Pumping Stations," headed by Georgy Fokin. In February 2025, he became the head of Gazprom Transgaz Saint Petersburg and the rector of SPbPU. signed an updated cooperation agreement, aimed at advanced training of personnel for the industry, conducting research and development work in the interests of the company and the entire Gazprom Group, and developing and applying advanced technologies.
Introducing the new Honorary Doctor, SPbPU Academic Secretary Dmitry Karpov noted that Georgy Fokin's personal commitment is the foundation of the extensive collaboration between the university and the company, and cited outstanding examples of collaboration over the past year. For example, undergraduate and graduate students from the specialized department, equipped with state-of-the-art computing facilities, are participating in a major R&D project to localize the T32 gas turbine unit, which is part of the GPA-32 "Ladoga" gas compressor unit. An alternative 3D printing technology has been mastered for the manufacture of a fuel injector swirler.
At the request of Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Management Board of PJSC Gazprom, the Polytechnic University promptly launched a program to train dispatchers and offer professional retraining at the Gazprom Transgaz Saint Petersburg training center.
The University's Mechanical Engineering Building has renovated the air system for air testing, and space has been equipped for students in the turbine engineering laboratory.
Georgy Anatolyevich Fokin graduated from the Faculty of Electronic Engineering at the V. I. Ulyanov (Lenin) Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute. In 1994, he defended his dissertation at the Saint Petersburg State Technical University (as the Polytechnic University was then known) and became a candidate of physical and mathematical sciences. In 2016, he also defended his doctoral dissertation at the Polytechnic University on the concept of developing small-scale power generation for compressor and gas distribution stations.
Georgy Fokin is a multifaceted man. He combines his professional career with community service: he serves on the Public Council of the Northwestern District of the Russian National Guard Troops, the Board of Trustees of the Charitable Foundation for the Development of the Tsarskoye Selo Museum-Reserve, and the Board of Trustees of the Russian Geographical Society. He is also the Honorary Consul of the Dominican Republic in St. Petersburg.
"Today, we are not so much inviting another outstanding individual to join the ranks of the Polytechnics as we are sincerely thanking this highly qualified specialist, professional, and remarkable leader for his collaboration and partnership—in full accordance with the SPbPU Honorary Doctorate Regulations—for his significant contribution to the development of cutting-edge fields of knowledge and science, which has contributed to the university's strategic development, the expansion of its areas of cooperation, and the enhancement of its authority internationally," concluded Dmitry Karpov.
Traditionally, to the sound of the student anthem "Gaudeamus," the ceremonial vestments—the gown and headdress of an Honorary Doctor—were carried into the Academic Council hall. Students dressed in early 20th-century Polytechnic uniforms helped Georgy Fokin don his academic attire, and the Polytechnic Rector presented him with the Doctor Honoratus badge, a diploma, a certificate, the book "Honorary Doctors of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University," and souvenirs.
After the ceremony, Georgy Fokin thanked everyone from the podium for the honor and shared his memories of the beginning of his collaboration with the Polytechnic University: "I feel a sense of pride standing in this place, where outstanding people, pillars of science, have stood before me. My entire scientific career has been connected in one way or another with the Polytechnic University. At ETU "LETI," I graduated from the basic department of the Physicotechnical Institute, headed by Zhores Ivanovich Alferov, who later founded an entire faculty at the Polytechnic Institute. After that, I worked at the Ioffe Institute, then moved to the Center for Advanced Technologies and Development. And in 1994, I defended my PhD thesis at the Polytechnic University. Those were challenging times, including for science. When we submitted our documents, it turned out that the dissertation council hadn't defended a single thesis for two years. And during my presentation, they asked me 32 questions. Not because they wanted to overwhelm me, but because the dissertation council members were curious; they missed defenses." I answered all the questions, received a PhD in Physics and Mathematics, and since then my work related to the Polytechnic has only developed.
Georgy Fokin recalled that in 2018, the Polytechnic University was recognized as Gazprom's flagship university. He concluded his speech by saying, "I commit to continuing to support our cooperation with the Polytechnic University."
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