Four years of innovation: An interview with Skoltech President Edward Crawley

Launched under the leadership of then-President Dmitry Medvedev in 2011, the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) was intended to be a beacon of hope for Russia’s scientific community. The idea was to create a new university in Russia to attract domestic and foreign talent into the fields of science and technology and serve as an engine for the country’s economic modernization.

Skoltech’s president is U.S. aerospace engineer Edward Crawley, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has been actively involved in education entrepreneurship and, in his capacity as an expert in the field of aerospace and spaceflight, was a senior adviser on several NASA advisory committees.

The Moscow Times sat down with Professor Crawley to talk about the project and his involvement in it.