Skopenko Viktor
Biography of Viktor Skopenko
Date of Birth: 12.18.1935
Place of Birth. Education. Born in the village of Novgorodka in Kirovohrad region. In 1958, he graduated from the chemistry faculty of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University. 1959-1962 - studied in the graduate school of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University.
Career. 1962 - defended his candidate dissertation.
1962-1966 - assistant, senior lecturer, associate professor at the department of inorganic chemistry of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University.
1966-1970 - deputy dean of the chemistry faculty.
1970 - defended his doctoral dissertation.
1972 - awarded the title of professor.
1975-1985 - pro-rector of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University.
1977-1998 - head of the department of inorganic chemistry.
1978 - elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR.
1985 - appointed rector of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University.
1988 - elected an academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR.
1992 - elected an academician of educational sciences of Ukraine.
1993 - became president of the Union of Rectors of Higher Educational Institutions of Ukraine.
On April 11, 2008, the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko canceled the decree 'On the appointment of Viktor Skopenko as rector of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv' dated January 12, 2000.
V. Skopenko became the acting rector (until the election of the head of the university), while instead, Vladimir Litvin was appointed to the post - the leader of the Litvin Bloc faction in the Verkhovna Rada of the sixth convocation and deputy head of the department of modern history of Ukraine at the Faculty of History of Taras Shevchenko National University. Later, the position of acting rector was taken by the director of the Kyiv Institute of International Relations, which acts as a separate subdivision of Taras Shevchenko National University, Leonid Hubersky.
Views and assessments. V. Yushchenko explained his radical personnel decision by stating that recently intrigues have drawn the main university of the country into politics, and therefore the university cannot 'respond to modern challenges'. Moreover, the head of state canceled the Cabinet of Ministers' decree from January 2007, which subordinated the national university to the government and deprived the university of the right to choose, consolidating the Cabinet's right to appoint the rector at the suggestion of the conference of the labor collective.
The former rector, who held the position for 23 years, immediately called his dismissal illegal and expressed readiness to participate in the election of a new head of Taras Shevchenko National University. Two days after his dismissal, Viktor Skopenko announced that he had a signed contract until 2014, but now he intends to work until 2009 to still organize the celebration of the 175th anniversary of the university. And then - with a clear conscience, to rest.
This friction with 'politics' was not the first for Viktor Skopenko. In the spring of 2007, the rector of Taras Shevchenko National University became the target of attacks from several deputies and public organizations. Politicians and public figures accused him of abusing university land (which allegedly involved 28 hectares transferred to commercial structures), questioned the legality of attempts to liquidate the Institute of International Relations (by the way, that is where the president's eldest son Andrey Yushchenko studies). They also asked the president to check the legality of Viktor Skopenko's tenure as rector.
At one of the press conferences, the rector admitted that back in December 2006, the employees of the State Audit Office revealed a number of abuses regarding university lands, and he signed the corresponding act, but 'with some of his comments'. As for any land machinations, Skopenko waved them off, saying that the territories had been empty for 20-30 years, so they were transferred for construction and settlement with the university for apartments. This press conference was accompanied by a student protest rally under the slogan 'No to the illegitimate rector' and so on.
In the same 2007, Viktor Skopenko was included in the list of 200 most influential people in Ukraine compiled by the Focus magazine.
A few days before the rector elections scheduled for October 16, observers identified L. Hubersky as the favorite of the race, noting that Viktor Skopenko, who had decided to fight for the lost position, could pose competition. However, the elections showed that the former rector's popularity had been exaggerated. L. Hubersky received almost 85% of the votes.
Awards. Doctor of Chemical Sciences, professor, academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine, Hero of Ukraine (with the award of the Order of the State), honorary doctor of the Jagiellonian, Bratislava, Moscow, Chernivtsi, and Tavria universities, Honored Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine, laureate of the State Prizes of Ukraine in the field of science and technology, author of about 400 scientific works. Honorary citizen of Kyiv. Awarded the Orders of the Labor Red Banner, Friendship of Peoples, 'For Merit' of I and II degrees.
Death. Died on July 5, 2010 in Kyiv from cancer. Buried on July 7, 2010 at Baikove Cemetery in Kyiv.
09.08.2010