OREANDA-NEWS. Andrei Sharonov, dean of SKOLKOVO Business School, was named education thought leader within TOP 1000 ranking, a joint project of the Managers Association and the Kommersant publishing house. The award for thought leadership was presented at the reception in the centre of Moscow on September 16.

“Three words that are very important for the country are worth mentioning right now: culture, sport and education. Thought leadership is rather a vector than quick results,” said at the beginning of the ceremony Anatoly Kuzichev, general producer of Kommersant FM.

Marina Loshak, Pushkin Museum director, was named the thought leader in culture, while Leonid Slutsky, head coach of Russian national football team, was recognized as the one in the field of sports.

“SKOLKOVO business school is a wonderful project that actually drives both the environment around it and all of us who are within its ecosystem. That is to say, this is not just my award – it also belongs to all the team that works with me. Education really sets the vector: the vector of changes in society and business, and it alone can change the country from within,” said Andrei Sharonov.

Lots of SKOLKOVO students and alumni also got into the rating. Ekaterina Tikhomirova, President of the European Media Group and Executive MBA student, entered the top 10 senior executives in the media business, and Vartan Dilanyan, managing director of Accenture in Russia and Executive MBA alumnus, was named one of the best managers in the field of "professional services".

The Russian Managers Association has published Top 1000 RussianManagers Ranking annually since 2001, while Kommersant has traditionally been a partner of the ranking.