MOSCOW, May 29 (RIA Novosti) – Vladimir Fortov, a prominent Russian physicist, was elected on Wednesday as the new head of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).
Fortov, director of the Institute of Thermal Physics of Extreme States, received 766 out of 1,313 votes in a secret ballot at the general meeting of academy members in Moscow. He needed 658 votes to be elected.
The runners-up – RAS members Zhores Alfyorov and Alexander Nekipelov – received 345 and 143 votes, respectively.
Fortov was favored to win the vote, with his candidacy supported by the RAS presidium and the majority of the RAS branches. He must now be approved for the job by President Vladimir Putin. If Putin refuses, a new election should be held within six months.