18 March marks the 95th anniversary of the birth of Nikolay N. Govorun (1930 – 1989), an outstanding mathematician, programmer, initiator of the creation of JINR’s local computer network, Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

The researcher is remembered by his colleagues for achieving excellent results in all fields he was involved in. His qualities of a theorist perfectly combined with the practical characteristics of an organizer of scientific activities. It is hard to overestimate his role in automating the collection and processing of physical experiments’ data, creating computing systems, developing various algorithms and software at JINR, and establishing the Soviet school of system programming.

As a postgraduate student at the Department of Mathematics of the Faculty of Physics of the Moscow State University, Nikolay Govorun published five papers on integral equations in antenna theory. At the same time, he gained experience in programming tasks related to the diffraction of electromagnetic waves on highly conductive solids of revolution.

Two years after joining the Laboratory of Theoretical Physics at JINR in 1958, the young scientist led a group of LTP mathematicians, and in 1963, he headed the mathematical department of the JINR Computing Centre. In 1966, when the Laboratory of Computing Technology and Automation at JINR was established (called the Laboratory of Information Technologies at JINR since 2000), Nikolay Govorun was appointed its Deputy Director, and in 1988-89 he was LCTA Director.

Nikolay Govorun was the author of a number of algorithms and computer programs for processing images from bubble, spark, and Wilson chambers. He supervised the upgrade of JINR’s computers for online work with measuring equipment. Under the guidance of Nikolay Govorun, an extensive library of programs for processing spectrometric data in high energy physics experiments was created.

In the late 1960s, on the initiative of Nikolay Govorun and with his participation, a translator from the Fortran programming language for BESM-6 computer was created. It was the first implementation of Fortran in the USSR, created in the interests of JINR and CERN cooperation. Nikolay Govorun took an active role in developing all levels of BESM-6 system software. In the 1970s, the scientist proposed and implemented a hierarchical complex of computational automation tools for research at JINR coupled with computers at CERN to exchange data and solve problems of great computational complexity.

Govorun organized the mathematical support of theoretical calculations of muon catalysis, ensuring JINR’s lead in this field of theoretical physics. Nikolay Govorun was one of the initiators of the development of parallel computing algorithms at JINR. In the mid-80s, with the proliferation of personal computers, the Institute needed a local area network (LAN). Nikolai Govorun and his colleagues developed and organized a global information network to connect the USSR nuclear research institutions with other countries’ centres through satellite and terrestrial communication channels (COCOS Project, computer communications space system).

At the end of 1985, the JINR’s terminal network (Joint Institute NETwork, JINET) was put into operation. The network software for JINR’s LAN was fully developed at LCTA, and in 1988, JINET became a part of the Internet.

Professor Govorun gave a lecture course on the mathematical support of computers and data processing systems at Moscow State University. Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences Govorun headed the Programming journal, which gained popularity among specialists because it reflected the ideas and results of various development teams. Since 1967, Nikolay Govorun chaired the Mathematics Section of the Council for Research Automation at the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The Section carried out extensive educational and organizational work related to the collection of libraries of programs and software systems at numerous schools, conferences, All-Union and international exhibitions.

Contemporaries highlight the excellent human qualities of Nikolay Govorun. He was a soft leader, an enthusiastic scientist. He warmly welcomed guests at his home. JINR’s Govorun Supercomputer, an alley at the DLNP JINR‘s technical site, and a seminar room at the Laboratory of Information Technologies are named after Nikolay Govorun. Another street bearing the name of Professor Nikolay Govorun is located at the site of the Dubna Special Economic Zone on Volga’s right bank.