Victor Veselago - Background

Background

In the senior years of his high school he was an avid ham radio amateur. This hobby sparked an interest in the workings of electricity, and more generally, an interest in physics. Veselago enrolled in the Physico-Technical Department, of M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University. This department had at that time was just recently opened at this University. He matriculated for four years there. These university years were the happiest time of his life.

Professor Mark Yefremovich Zhabotinsky supervised Veselago's project for his graduation diploma. This same professor also helped him to build a foundation in radio electronics and electrodynamics. Also, as a result of reading the book "What is radio?", which popularized the subject he became involved in the amateur field of Ham Radio. Veselago then studied under the author of the book, Professor Semen Emmanuilovich Khaikin, for three summers at the P N Lebedev FIAN Radioastronomy Station in Crimea. He also studied under Professor Sergei Mikhailovich Rytov, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, who lectured on the theory of oscillations. These three professors have had a notable impact on Veselago.

It appears that the most significant event of his career, and the most important moment in his life was when he realized that materials with both negative permittivity and permeability are possible.

He is also on the advisory board of the peer reviewed journal Metamaterials, along with a number of other notable board members who have significantly contributed to metamaterial research. The journal was first published in March, 2007.

In 2009, Victor Vesalgo won the C.E.K. Mees Medal from the Optical Society of America (OSA). The recipient is awarded this medal because he or she "exemplifies the thought that 'optics transcends all boundaries,' interdisciplinary and international alike."