Valery L. Mironov (M’98) received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees and the Full Professor degree in radio science and electronics from Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russia, in 1961, 1968, and 1980, respectively. He studied electromagnetic wave propagation/scattering, and radar/lidar remote sensing. He was a Scientist, with the Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences (SB RAS), Tomsk State University, where he was a Senior Scientist, a Professor, and a Full Professor from 1961 to 1986. From 1982 to 1986, he was the Deputy Director with the Institute of Atmospheric Optics, SB RAS. From 1986 to 1997, he was the President at the Altai State University, Barnaul, Russia. From 1997 to 1998, he was a Visiting Scientist with The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. In 2001, he joined the Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA. In 2002, he joined the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA, as an Affiliate Professor Geophysics. He is currently the Head of radiophysics with the Remote Sensing Laboratory, Kirensky Institute of Physics, SB RAS. He has authored or co-authored over 350 scientific publications and six books. His research interests include radiometry and radar remote sensing modeling and data processing. Dr. Mironov has been a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, since 1991. He was a recipient of the USSR State Prize in Science and Engineering in 1985, the SB RAS Award in Applied Research in 1987, and the Altai State Science and Engineering Prize in 1999.