On 4 January, Professor Arkadij Margolis, Rector and co-founder of the Moscow State University of Psychology and Education (MSUPE), Honoured Worker of Higher Education of the Russian Federation, Honorary Worker of Higher Professional Education of the Russian Federation, Candidate of Psychological Sciences, marks his anniversary.
The scope of Professor Margolis’s work is defined less by individual career milestones than by sustained and systematic efforts in higher education, resulting in enduring solutions in specialist training, scientific expertise, and the support of professional communities. These efforts substantially shape the future development of MSUPE’s key areas as one of the leading Russian universities in psychology.
A central strand of Professor Margolis’s professional activity is the development of the scholarly tradition of cultural-historical psychology as a coherent research programme. In his academic publications, he consistently advances cultural-historical and activity-based approaches in addressing the design of learning activity and the mechanisms of knowledge acquisition; he analyses the learner’s zone of proximal development and the teacher’s role within it; and he substantiates the activity approach as a methodological foundation for teacher education. A further significant line of research concerns the design of digital solutions in education and the analysis of psychological conceptions of learning as a factor influencing the quality of professional decision-making in educational practice.
A distinct line of Professor Margolis’s professional activity is the development of the university’s infrastructure for scholarly communication. He personally founded and continues to provide intellectual leadership to the direction that brings together MSUPE’s academic journals and digital publishing platforms, including the Portal of Psychological Publications. Today, this work shapes the quality and accessibility of scholarly knowledge, supports academic and professional communities in Russian psychology and education, and sets high benchmarks for the further development of university-based scholarly publishing.
On the occasion of Professor Arkadij Margolis’s anniversary
The journal Cultural-Historical Psychology extends its congratulations to Professor Arkadij Margolis, Rector of the Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, on the occasion of his 65th anniversary, which he marks today, 4 January.
Professor Margolis’s guiding principle may be characterised as creation and institution-building. Working in the tradition associated with his teacher and colleague Professor Vitaly Rubtsov, the first Rector of MSUPE, he has consistently pursued the idea of a university specialising in psychology. One of the key institutional embodiments of this idea is the journal Cultural-Historical Psychology, founded twenty years ago by V.P. Zinchenko, V.M. Munipov, V.V. Rubtsov, A.A. Margolis, and B.G. Meshcheryakov. Over this period, the journal has developed into a leading specialised outlet while retaining a clear thematic focus and methodological coherence. The support provided to the journal by Professor Margolis has been of particular importance.
Professor Margolis combines scholarly leadership in cultural-historical and activity-based psychology with institutional work in education—both higher and general—where teaching is closely connected to research and creative inquiry.
The Editorial Board of Cultural-Historical Psychology
The editorial boards of MSUPE journals and the team of the PsyJournals.ru Portal of Psychological Publications join colleagues and associates in extending their congratulations.
Dear Professor Margolis, please accept our congratulations on your anniversary.
We wish you continued intellectual energy, new significant projects, and the support of like-minded colleagues with whom it is possible to move confidently forward. May each new stage of your professional life bring results that contribute meaningfully to the advancement of science, education, and professional practice.
The PsyJournals.ru Portal of Psychological Publications Team