I was born in Moscow, Russia. In 1965 I graduated from the elite Physical-Mathematical boarding high school (founded by Kolmogorov and known as Internat 18). I moved on to study mathematics in the department of Mechanics and Mathematics (or Mekh-Mat for short) of Moscow State University which at the time was one of the best mathematical centers in the world. I graduated Mekh-Mat in 1970 with MS degree in mathematics and then received my PhD in Mathematics in 1979 from Gorky State University (now called Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod).

While in Moscow I worked at various research institutes before leaving Russia for US in 1989 where a new chapter in my professional career began. I first was a Visiting Professor at the University of Chicago (Spring 1990) before assuming a position of Professor of Mathematics at Penn State University, see more about me at Wikipedia

Dynamical Systems in a broad sense including Nonuniform Hyperbolicity Theory and Partial Hyperbolicity Theory. I also work in Ergodic Theory, Riemannian Geometry (dynamics of geodesic flows), Dimension Theory, and Mathematical Physics including Coupled Map Lattices.

Mathematics and Art have much in common: one reveals the beauty of mind, while the other the beauty of nature, see the virtual works of ceramics by Natasha Pesin, the virtual work of paintings by Ira, Lena, and Damian