Valery Valentinovich Mitsyn 19.01.1953 – 31.12.2025 On 31 December 2025, Valery Valentinovich Mitsyn, Senior Researcher of the Scientific and Technical Department of External Communications and Distributed Information Systems at the Meshcheryakov Laboratory of Information Technologies, passed away. He was a world-renowned scientist, who contributed much of his energy and knowledge to the global recognition of the JINR grid infrastructure. After graduating from the Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics at MSU in 1975, Valery Valentinovich worked as an engineer at the Machine-Building Design Bureau in Miass for two years, then at the Atoll Research Institute for a year. Since 1978, he worked as an engineer, junior researcher, and senior researcher at the All-Union Research Institute of Physical Instrumentation (VNIIPhP). Valery Valentinovich’s scientific career started in 1989 as a senior researcher at the Laboratory of Computing Techniques and Automation. Valery Valentinovich became the chief system administrator of the VAX cluster and was involved in the implementation of advanced network protocols and technologies (ETHERNET, DECnet, TCP/IP). He played a key role in mastering and implementing UNIX-family operating systems (SUNOS, Solaris, DUNIX, HP-UX, AIX, ConvexOS, FreeBSD, Linux) and corresponding software at JINR. Since then, he became the embodiment of everything new that was happening in computing at JINR. Valery Valentinovich was a unique specialist of the highest qualification in various fields of modern information and network technologies (hardware features of computers, operating systems, networks and information security, programming languages, mass storage systems, applied mathematical software). His extensive professional expertise was always indispensable in the organization and subsequent realization of numerous Russian and international projects with JINR’s participation, in which V.V. Mitsyn was involved as an expert, manager, and leading executor of these projects. He played a central role in the implementation of many European and Russian grid technology development projects, including EU DATAGRID, EGEE (Enabling Grids for E-science), WLCG, and RDIG (Russian Data Intensive Grid). He was a participant in the project “Creating a prototype of a next-generation basic grid services center for intensive operations with distributed data on a federal scale”, carried out within the federal target scientific and technical program “Research and development in priority areas of science and technology development” for 2002-2006, as well as a leading executor of the Dubna-Grid project within the science city program, aimed at integrating Dubna’s computing and information resources on top of metacluster and grid technologies. He was directly involved in the implementation of the project of the Federal Agency for Science and Innovation of the Russian Federation “Elaborating a computer system for the development of the RuTier2/RDIG grid complex for Russian institutes to analyze distributed data for the LHC as part of the WLCG/EGEE global grid system”, the project of the Federal Agency for Science and Innovation of the Russian Federation “GridNNS - National Nanotechnology Network”, the EGI-InSPARE European project, the Russian Grid Network Development Program of the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media, the projects of the federal target program of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Russian Federation “Model of a distributed system for collective use for acquiring, transmitting, and processing extremely large volumes of information based on grid technology for the NICA accelerator complex” and “Creating an automated system for processing experimental data at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) of the Tier1 level and providing grid services for the distributed analysis of this data”. Valery Valentinovich devoted considerable attention to organizing computing for physics experiments at JINR, particularly for ALICE, CMS, and ATLAS, and his involvement in these projects was crucial. Valery Valentinovich played a cardinal role in the successful functioning of the Tier1 data processing and storage center for the CMS experiment at MLIT JINR. Thanks to Valery Valentinovich, the Tier1 data processing and storage center at JINR has consistently held a leading position among the world’s centers of this level. Under the leadership of V.V. Mitsyn, a monitoring and control center for the JINR Multifunctional Information and Computing Complex has been established in recent years. V.V. Mitsyn was the major executor of work on three components of the Multifunctional Information and Computing Complex at MLIT JINR, namely, the Tier1 and Tier2 grid sites and the EOS-based data storage system. Valery Valentinovich is the author and co-author of over 195 papers in peer-reviewed journals and articles in scientific collections and periodicals. V.V. Mitsyn’s fruitful work was recognized with well-deserved awards, including the Medal of the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland”, 2nd class, the departmental badge of distinction in labor “Veteran of Nuclear Energy and Industry”, the Certificate of Honor of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, the Letter of Gratitude from the Governor of the Moscow Region, and the title of “Honorary Fellow of JINR”. In 2013, V.V. Mitsyn, along with a team of authors, received the JINR First Prize for a series of papers entitled “JINR grid infrastructure as a component of Russian and world-wide grid”. In 2021, he was awarded the Second Prize for a series of papers entitled “Development and implementation of a unified access to the heterogeneous distributed resources of JINR and its Member States on the DIRAC platform”. This year, Valery Valentinovich became a laureate of the Breakthrough Prize 2025 in Fundamental Physics for the results of work performed on the basis of LHC RUN2 data. His exceptional self-discipline, tireless work ethic, incredible knowledge of all aspects of the computing center’s operation, along with friendly attitude toward colleagues and constant pursuit of something new always earned him the admiration of colleagues and friends. Valery Valentinovich enjoyed well-deserved authority and respect not only at JINR but also at Russian and foreign research centers. Valery Valentinovich was a wonderful man, a talented scientist, a kind-hearted and reliable person. He left a deep mark on science and a fond memory for everyone who worked with him, was his friend, or simply communicated with him. We will all deeply miss his good humor, wise advice, and critical insight. The MLIT Directorate and the Laboratory’s staff express their sincere condolences to the family and friends of Valery Valentinovich. The fond memory of this remarkable man, wonderful specialist, and wise friend and colleague will always be with us.
