B. A. O S T R O U M O V ON H I S 8 0 t h B I R T H D A Y

Boris Andreevich Ostroumov was born on October 21, 1887,in the town of Yaroslavl ' . In 1912,he graduated from the phys icomathemat ica l facul ty of the Petersburg University, and in 1913 from the one-yea r teachers ' course, and was appointed teacher at the 2nd Kazan ' secondary t echn ica l schoo l From that t ime on, his ent ire l ife was de- d ica ted to teaching and scient i f ic ac t iv i ty in the f ield of exper imenta l and appl ied physics.

In 1919,Boris Andreevich was appointed by the Kazan ' University to teach at the Workers' Faculty. At the same t ime he taught physics at the 4th Officers ' Mil i tary Engineering School and was head of the physics laboratory at the Kazan ' Teachers ' Institute.

In 1924, at the request of M. A. Bonch-Bruevich, head of the V. I. Lenin Nizhnii Novgorod Radio Laboratory (NRL), Boris Andreevich was transferred to the post of scient i f ic expert and manager of that laboratory, in which he

had the opportunity to engage in extensive exper imenta l work, spec ia l iz ing in the f ield of radio measurements and vacuum laboratory techniques. He developed several types of e lect ron and ca thode- ray tubes which have since been widely used. Boris Andreevich became one of the leading experts o f the NRL and an ac t ive collaborator with V. V. Tatarinov, V. P. Volodin, A. F. Shorin, and other outstanding scientists of that laboratory,

In 1929, owing to the reorganizat ion of the NRL, Boris Andreevich was transferred to the Central Radio Labor- atory in Leningrad (TsRL). He worked there as head of a separate laboratory and member of the VESO c ounc i l

In 1932,B. A. Ostroumov was offered the post of professor and head of the physics depar tment at the Leningrad Medica l Teachers ' Institute. Simultaneously with his work at the Institute, Boris Andreevich continued his work at the TsRL. In 1934,he was transferred to the State Opt ica l Insti tute as head of a group. At this Institute he worked right up to its evacuat ion in 1941.

In 1943, Boris Andreevich was transferred to the D. I .Mendeleev Al l -Union Scient i f ic Research Institute of Metrology as head, first, of the photometr ic and radiant energy laboratory, and then of the vacuum laboratory. In 1956, he was appointed head of the physics department at the Communicat ions Engineering Academy where he re- mained up to 1958. He was then se lec ted in a compet i t ion for the post of senior sc ient i f ic officer of the Leningrad Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences Insti tute of History, Natural Sciences, and Technology. In this post, Boris Andreevich ce lebra ted his 80th bir thday and the 60th anniversary of his teaching, engineering and scientif ic act ivi ty.

In addit ion to the above-ment ioned act ivi ty, B. A. Ostroumov has been engaged at various t imes in teaching at various higher educat ional institutions of Leningrad. He has written many art icles and papers. In a l l he has pub- lished about 100 works, including 21 inventions.

In 1937,Boris Andreevich, without defending a dissertation, was awarded the degree of candidate of physico- m a t h e m a t i c a l sciences and the t i t le of professor.

Boris Andreevich is an ac t ive soc ia l worker. Since the last war he has ac t ive ly par t ic ipated in the work of the "Znanie" (Knowledge) society and the A. S. Popov Scient if ic and Technica l Society of Radiotechnology and Communicat ions (NTORiE), as wel l as in the USSR National Association of Historians. For many years B. A. Ostro-

umov has been e l ec ted member of the NTORi~ administrat ion; at present he is in charge of the society 's histori- ca l sect ion in Leningrad, and he par t ic ipates in the everyday work of other scient i f ic sections of the Society. He was e l ec ted one of the first honorary members of the society and an honorary radioman of the Soviet Union.

Boris Andreevich has been awarded for his social , scient if ic , and teaching ac t iv i ty the "Badge of Honor, ~ the m e d a l for "Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War," the meda l for the "250th anniversary of Leningrad," a table bronze m e d a l of A. S. Popov, and other decorations.

The numerous pupils, friends, and comrades of Boris Andreevich wish him good health, many years of life, and further creat ive successes.

Translated from I z m e r i t e l ' n a y a Teldanika, No. 12, p. 82, December , 1967.

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