Valentin Oleksiyovych Molyako, Full Member (Academician) of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine (elected on  November 17, 1992), Doctor of Sciences in Psychology, Professor, Honoured Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine, Head of the Laboratory of Psychology of Creativity at the G.S. Kostiuk Institute of Psychology of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Member of the American Academy of Sciences (USA), was born on  July 24, 1937 in the village of Veremiivtsi, Hradizkyi District, Poltava Region. He graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (1959) and completed his postgraduate studies at the Research Institute of Psychology.

His main areas of scientific activity include the psychology of creativity, thinking and giftedness; the psychology of work and engineering psychology; and the psychology of design activity.

An important component of Academician V.O. Molyakо’s scientific output is the development of the concept of constructive activity, the foundations of which are laid out in his works. His psychological theory of creativity and his proprietary training system KARUS have gained recognition among domestic and foreign scholars. His works devoted to the psychological analysis of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident have gained wide recognition in the global field of psychology; they have become the theoretical and methodological basis for further large-scale scientific research and the foundation for the establishment of a new branch of psychological science – environmental psychology. He has developed theories on psychological safety of the individual, the functioning of the psyche at various levels of creativity, the imaginative and rational components of thinking, and the appropriate self-regulation of learners in conditions of information overload.

Author of over 500 academic and popular science works, including 12 solo and collaborative monographs, notably “The Psychology of Design Activity”, ‘The Psychology of Schoolchildren’s Creative Problem Solving”, “Psychological Problems of Creative Giftedness”, “Abilities, Creativity, Giftedness: Theory, Methodology, Research Results”, “Psychological Patterns of Creative Perception of Information Indicators of Reality”, “The Functioning of Creative Thinking in the Subject’s Information-Virtual Space”, “The Functioning of Creative Thinking in Conditions of Information Uncertainty”, and others.

Under his scientific supervision and guidance, 10 doctoral dissertations and over 50 candidate dissertations have been defended.

He chaired the Specialised Academic Council at the G.S. Kostiuk Institute of Psychology of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine in the specialisation “General Psychology, History of Psychology”.

Author of the poetry collections “Icebreakers”, “Dominant”, “Counterpoint”, “Psyche in a Kimono” and “Psychodrome”, as well as numerous poems published in periodicals.

He has been awarded the Order of Merit, 3rd class, the Badge of Honour, and Certificates of Honour from the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, and the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, as well as the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine’s “A. S. Makarenko”, and medals of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine “K.D. Ushynsky”, “Grigory Skovoroda”, and “Volodymyr Monomakh”.

The scholars of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine express their deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased. The memory of this outstanding scholar, patriot of Ukraine, and a deeply compassionate and sensitive man will remain in the hearts of everyone who worked with him or knew him.