Mr. Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club; Professor; Dean of the Faculty of Communications, Media and Design at the National Research University – Higher School of Economics. 

He has been in the media industry since 1991, starting as the Head of the Audience Research Department of the All-Russia State Television and Radio Company (RTR), author and host of radio and television broadcasts.

He has been at the National Research University – Higher School of Economics since 2001, as a Dean of the Faculty of Communications, Media and Design since 2014. Since 2008, he has been the head of the Council of the Heads of Government and Public Television and Radio Organizations of CIS Countries.

Andrey Bystritskiy is a Professor and PhD (Pedagogics, 1989). He is a member of the Union of Writers. In June 2007, he received the Order of Honour.He is the author of books, including such works as Youth Subcultures and Russia’s Intelligentsia During the Demise of the Soviet System (1991), and numerous publications in newspapers and magazines.