Skoltech is an international graduate research-focused university that was founded by the group of world-renowned scientists in 2011. Skoltech's curriculum focuses on technology and innovation, offering Master's programs in 11 technological disciplines. Students receive rigorous theoretical and practical training, design their own research projects, participate in internships and gain entrepreneurial skills in English. The faculty is comprised of current researchers with international accreditation and achievements.

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Viktor Vekselberg

Chairman of the Board of Trustees

Professional life 

In 1990, together with his partners, Viktor Vekselberg co-founded Renova Group later became one of the largest diversified investment companies in Russia. Subsequently, Viktor Vekselberg bought out his business partners. In 1996, Renova founded SUAL Holding, and Viktor Vekselberg became its President and later in 2003 its Board Chairman. In 2007, SUAL Holding merged with Russian Aluminium into UC Rusal, and until 2012, Viktor Vekselberg chaired the board of the newly formed company. In 2002 – 2003, he chaired the Board of the Tyumen Oil Company (TNK), and in 2003 – 2013 was a member of the TNK-BP Board of Directors. In 2010, Renova shifted its investment focus onto solar power generation, and in 2013, the Group made an exit from the oil and gas business.

In 2010, Viktor was elected as Head of the Skolkovo Innovation Center project.  In 2019 – 2020, he chaired the Skolkovo Board of Directors, and from 2020, he has been a member of the Board. In 2021, appointed as Chairman of the Skoltech Board of Trustees.

Viktor Vekselberg is a member of the Management Board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, he chairs its Committee for International Cooperation and is a member of several transnational business councils (Russia-Germany, Russia-Italy, Russia-France, Russia-Switzerland, Russia-China). Viktor Vekselberg is a member of the Donor Group of Avenir Suisse, a think tank based in Switzerland.

Charity

Viktor spends a considerable amount of his time on charity, he supports museums and theaters. In 2004, he founded the Link of Times charity foundation with a mission to repatriate lost artworks. In 2004, Viktor Vekselberg purchased the world’s largest collection of imperial Easter eggs by Carl Fabergé and gave it a home at a museum he founded in St. Petersburg which has now become one of the largest private museums in Russia. He is a trustee of the Tretyakov Gallery and Chairman of Honor of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center and the founder of its Endowment. Also sponsors the annual Moscow Easter Festival, with Maestro Valery Gergiev as its artistic director, and the international music festivals in Verbier and Lucerne (Switzerland). He is a member of the Bureau of the Presidium of the Russian Jewish Congress and is its Counsellor for Countering Antisemitism.  Member of the Council of Patrons of the Conference of European Rabbis.

Education is an area of priority focus for Viktor’s philanthropic effort.  He funds scientific research grants in innovation technologies for Skolkovo residents. Also the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Skolkovo International Gymnasium.

In 2015 – 2018, Viktor was a member of the board of trustees of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology known as the MIT Corporation. Also, he supports sports and is a member of the Supervisory Board of the Russian Volleyball Federation.

Personal

Viktor Vekselberg was born in 1957. He graduated from the Moscow Institute of Railway Engineers in 1979 to continue his post-graduate studies at the USSR Academy of Sciences. Candidate of Sciences (Engineering). Viktor Vekselberg dedicates his free time to reading and sports. He is a passionate art collector.