Three of them became holders of the Order of Friendship, thirteen more became holders of medals of the Order "For Services to the Fatherland" II degree.
The President of Russia signed a decree on conferring state awards for merits in scientific and pedagogical activities, training of highly qualified specialists and many years of conscientious work to 16 employees of the Catherine the Great St. Petersburg Mining University. Thus, the Order of Friendship was awarded to Vladimir Zubov, Head of the Departments of Mineral Deposit Development and Maria Pashkevich, Head of the Department of Geoecology, and Mikhail Ivanov, Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Mining Museum.
Medals of the Order "For Services to the Fatherland" II degree were awarded to 13 employees of the first technical university of Russia. Among them are the heads of the Departments of Mineral Processing Tatiana Alexandrova, Metallurgy Vladimir Bazhin, Well Drilling Mikhail Dvoinikov, and Descriptive Geometry and Graphics Sergey Ignatyev.
The awardees also included Alexey Bolshunov, head of the scientific party of St. Petersburg Mining University in Antarctica; Yuri Gavrilov, head of the department for procurement of goods, works and services; Yuri Zhukovsky, director of the educational and research center of digital technologies; Alexander Maslovsky, head of the department of the rector's office; Dmitry Mardashov, director of the Institute of specialized and professional education of the university, as well as Alexey Makhovikov, director of the Institute of basic engineering education; Alexey Makhovikov, deputy vice-rector for educational activities; Yuri Gavrilov, director of the Institute of basic engineering education, as well as Alexey Makhovikov, deputy vice-rector of the Institute of basic engineering education.
"Undoubtedly, it is a great pleasure to receive such a high award in the year of the 250th anniversary of the Mining University. This is a common merit of our entire staff and, especially, of the university management, which is doing everything possible to create a comfortable scientific and educational environment here," emphasized Yury Zhukovsky, commenting on the event.
Two polar explorers - Alexey Bolshunov and Sergey Ignatyev - are among those honored by the Russian President in his decree. This fall they will again go to Antarctica to continue drilling operations at the Vostok research station. One of the tasks, as before, is to bring to the surface relict ice cores from a depth of more than three kilometers. Their further study in laboratory conditions makes it possible to understand the regularities of climatic changes on the planet and make certain forecasts for the future.
"This award is a recognition of the merits of the entire team engaged in research work at Vostok station in Antarctica, it will undoubtedly serve as a great motivation for our further work for the benefit of Mining University and the whole of Russia. It is pleasant to realize that the leadership of the Russian Federation is interested in the scientific activity of the specialists of the first technical university of the country on the Sixth Continent and gives such high marks for it", - said Alexey Bolshunov.
Vladimir Putin also awarded the honorary title "Honored Worker of Higher Education of the Russian Federation" to Olga Cheremisina, Head of the General and Physical Chemistry Department, and Yaroslav Shklyarsky, Head of the General Electrical Engineering Department.