Dr. Andrei Yakovlev: Visionary, Leader, Iconoclast

Yuriy Gusev¹ , Leonid Hanin² , Lev Klebanov³ , Alex Tsodikov⁴ , Nikolay M Yanev⁵ and Alexander Zorin⁶

¹Department of Surgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center,920 Stanton L. Young Blvd., WP 2140, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104, USA

²Department of Mathematics, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID 83209-8085, USA

³Department of Probability and Statistics, Charles University, Sokolovska 83, Praha-8, CZ 18675, Czech Republic

⁴Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1420 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USA

⁵Department of Probability and Statistics, Chair, Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 8 G.Bonchev, Sofia 1113, Bulgaria

⁶Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, University of Rochester Medical Center, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Box 630, Rochester NY 14642, USA

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Biology Direct 2008, 3:10doi:10.1186/1745-6150-3-10


Published:	26 March 2008

First paragraph (this article has no abstract)

On February 27, 2008 the world's scientific community lost one of its most brilliant and innovative members – Dr. Andrei Yakovlev. He was 63, and at the zenith of his intellectual powers. With his uncanny ability to persuade and to ignite interest in his ideas, he challenged and stimulated everyone around him through his keen scientific vision and unparalleled intellectual depth and rigor. He collaborated with dozens of researchers – mathematicians, statisticians, biologists, epidemiologists, medical doctors and engineers. For many of them, these collaborations were a life changing experience. His unflinching belief in the power of mathematics and his tireless pursuit of new biomedical knowledge were irresistibly infectious and inspiring to two generations of his students and hundreds of his colleagues. For more than three decades he passionately advocated his vision for the future of Biology and Medicine as disciplines built upon a solid foundation of mathematical theory and statistical methodology. He has always enjoyed and cherished those wonderful "moments of truth" when predictions based on his models were confirmed by biological experiments or provided a perfect fit to known biomedical data, and he shared his joy with his co-workers, students and friends. He was a natural leader, caring mentor, and paternal figure for everyone privileged to work under his tutelage. He led by his wisdom, honesty, dignity and championship for scientific truth. He was a towering moral authority for many of his friends and coworkers, always ready to help, offer advice and even, for better or for worse, make critical decisions for them.