First Official Friend of HSE Receives Award

During his business trip to Pantheon-Sorbonne Paris 1 University, HSE Rector Yaroslav Kuzminov awarded Michel Sollogoub with the first Friend of HSE statuette in the history of the Golden HSE Award.

In 2016, the list of Golden HSE nominations was expanded to cover all spheres of university life. One of the new nominations, Friend of HSE, is intended to express gratitude to those ‘Friends of HSE’ who have never worked here or those who no longer work here, but whose longstanding cooperation has had a significant impact on HSE’s development.

Michel Sollogoub, Professor at the Pantheon-Sorbonne University, Honorary Professor of HSE and member of its International Expert Council in Economics, is the first laureate of this award. He took part in HSE’s first academic council in 1992, showed interest in the new university, and developed a complex plan for HSE’s cooperation with French universities, including internships and courses for HSE students in France, internships and continuing education courses for Russian lecturers at French universities, and lectures by French scholars in Moscow. Thanks to Michel Sollogoub’s active involvement, in 1993 HSE received a grant from the French government for creating MA and undergraduate courses in economics at the Faculty of Economics. HSE received support from the Consortium of French Universities, and particularly, the Pantheon-Sorbonne University.

He was unable to attend the awards ceremony in Moscow in December, which is why he received his award later in Paris. ‘HSE has really played an important role in my life’, said Michel Sollogoub as he received the prize. ‘I remember my first lecture at HSE in October 1993 at the Gosplan computer center. It took place to the sound of gunfire, and I was warned that armored vehicles would be moving along the boulevard next to our building… So many years later, I’m flattered to get this award and I hope that our two universities’ partnership will continue.’

Georges Haddad, President of Pantheon-Sorbonne recalled how this cooperation started: ‘Our university’s partnership with HSE stretches back over 20 years, and I remember – it was during my first term as rector – Michel Sollogoub came to us and presented his cooperation project. And I immediately agreed. I’m glad to welcome the HSE delegation to Paris today, especially for such a gratifying reason, as we honor Professor Sollogoub, who laid the foundations for comprehensive cooperation between our two universities.’

Cooperation between the universities continues to this day. As part of their trip, Yaroslav Kuzminov, HSE Rector, Ivan Prostakov, HSE Vice Rector, and Georges Haddad, discussed the prospects for its further development. It was decided to focus on expanding opportunities for young researchers at the two universities to network and share their experiences.