The history of South Ural State University remembers many brilliant scientists, whose contribution played a big role in its development. A special spot in this history is given to veterans of the Great Patriotic War who became the first lecturers of the university founded in 1943. Among them is Professor Aleksandr Vasilyevich Baev.
To the frontline as a volunteer
Aleksandr Vasilyevich Baev was born on May 29 of 1914. After graduating middle school in 1930, he worked as a teacher and then as an accountant at one of metallurgical plants of the city of Sverdlovsk (presently Yekaterinburg). In 1938 he became a student of Ural Polytechnic Institute but could graduate only after the Great Patriotic War was over: in 1941 Aleksandr Vasilyevich voluntarily went to the frontline.
“My father is the main role model in my life. Everything that I have I owe to him. He is a talented teacher, a person who passed the war. He was engaged in active combat at the Western frontline as a private of a rifle regiment. In October of 1941, he was encircled and stayed in the city of Gomel occupied by fascist army till September of 1943. In September of the same year he once again became a private of the 53rd rifle division,” says Aleksandr Vasilyevich’s son, Igor Aleksandrovich.
In 1944, Aleksandr Baev was discharged due to a severe wound. For his service in battle, he was awarded with medals For Bravery, For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941 – 19445, and with a service medal on the occasion of The 30th Anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941 – 1945.
Career of a scientist at SUSU
In 1946, Aleksandr Vasilyevich graduated from the Ural Polytechnic Institute with honours; after that he was first an assistant and then a postgraduate student of the Department of Electric Power Stations, Networks and Systems. From 1950, he became the Senior Engineer and Head of the Laboratory at the All-Union NRI for electrification of agriculture.
After nine years, Aleksandr Baev became the Dean of the Power Engineering Faculty. For his creative work for improvement of the education process he was awarded with medals For Distinguished Labor, For Valorous Labor. On the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of V.I. Lenin; in recognition of his service at the Faculty and the Department he was awarded with an Order of Lenin and a mark of distinction of the USSR’s Ministry of Higher Education Institutions For Excellent Results in Work.
The university became the second home
Aleksandr Vasilyevich’s son, Igor Aleksandrovich Baev, is a graduate of the Department of Automatics and Telemechanics of the Chelyabinsk Polytechnic Institute. Nowadays he’s holding the position as Head of the Department of Economics and Finance. Igor Aleksandrovich is a Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor, Honorary Figure of Russian Higher Education, acting member of Academy of the Humanities, Chairman of the Economic Council at the Legislative Assembly of the city of Chelyabinsk, and Chairman of the Academic Board for defense of Doctor’s and Candidate’s dissertations. He is an author of 5 monographs and more than 160 research articles.
Photo: Igor Aleksandrovich Baev, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor (1st row on the right)
“I love economics and see many unsolved problems in this science,” says Igor Aleksandrovich about his scientific activity. “If I could return back to the past, I would once again have come back to the sphere of economics through the Instrumentation Engineering Faculty. I think that engineering education allowed me to become a good specialist in economics. When obtaining an engineering specialty, you learn to love mathematics, technology and production, where economic problems originate. What about my work, I can say that the university became my second home. I am a person who joyfully comes to work and joyfully returns home. At SUSU, each day became memorable for me.”
Igor Aleksandrovich’s wife, Olga Mikhailovna Baeva, is a graduate of the Faculty of Metallurgy; from 1965 till 2011 she was first a postgraduate student, then an assistant, and finally a senior lecturer of the Department of Physical Chemistry.
Aleksandr Vasilyevich’s younger son, Leonid Aleksandrovich Baev, followed his father’s footsteps and chose the profession of a lecturer. He is a graduate of the Department of Automated Control Systems of the Instrumentation Engineering Faculty. Having defended a Candidate’s dissertation on his first, engineering, specialty, Leonid Aleksandrovich became an Associate Professor of the Department of Economics and Industrial Production Organization. Nowadays, Leonid Aleksandrovich is a Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor, Honorary Figure of Russian Higher Education, certified specialist in the sphere of project management at IPMA (International Project Management Association), Professor of the Department of Industrial Economics and Project Management which he headed from 1992 till 2017. During this time, Leonid Aleksandrovich and his colleagues developed at the Department a topical economic-and-managerial specialization in “Project management of development of social and economic systems”. First specialists in this area graduated from the Department in 2002. Speaking about the economic science, Leonid Aleksandrovich notes that it is too remote from practice.
Photo: Igor Aleksandrovich Baev, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor; Leonid Aleksandrovich Baev, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor
“If at least 10% of economic dissertations were of real practical use, we would live significantly better. This is exactly why, after an internship in the USA in a team of lecturers from Russia’s leading universities, me and my colleagues started a serious work over practically-oriented project management. Now we are actively working with enterprises and organizations within the frameworks of a Center for Retraining of Managerial Personnel, created at the Department. Of course, we pursue science as well: we write articles, monographs, and dissertations. But right now the most important thing is to implement into practice all that has already been elaborated by the world’s economic science. Of course, this is not easy, but the memory about my father and his example give me additional strength.”
Leonid Aleksandrovich’s wife, Irina Ottovna Baeva, graduated from SUSU (CPI) as well; after that she worked at the Department of Graphics of the CPI, and then worked as a lecturer at the Motor Transport Training College.
The third and the fourth generations of the dynasty
Igor Aleksandrovich’s son and daughter are also alumni of South Ural State University. Aleksei Igorevich Baev is a Candidate of Engineering Sciences who from 1986 till 1992 was at first a postgraduate student and then an Associate Professor of the Department of Metal Science. Leonid Aleksandrovich’s daughter, Anastasia Leonidovna Kuzminova, is a graduate of the Faculty of Mechanics and Technology; from 1996 till 2000 she was a postgraduate student of the Department of Economy of Mechanical Engineering. After having defended her Candidate’s dissertation, Anastasia Leonidovna dedicated herself to practical economics. Now she’s heading the Soinvest Analytic Agency and is working on the development and implementation of real programs and projects for development of enterprises and territories. One of the latest projects of the Agency is the program of development of the Chelyabinsk region up till 2035.
Aleksandr Alekseevich Baev, a great-grandson of the Great Patriotic War’s veteran Aleksandr Vasilyevich, is also a SUSU graduate. Nowadays he is a talented specialist in the sphere of computer technology. Total period of service of the Baev dynasty at South Ural State University is more than 270 years.