Annotation

Goal. To present the main achievements and especially the encyclopedic, spiritual, cultural, and managerial scale of the personality of one of the most famous leaders of the Soviet system of higher education and science in the North Caucasus, the rector of Rostov State University (now Southern Federal University) Yu.A. Zhdanov, and to share personal memories of working with him. Methodology: historiographic, biographical, and historical analysis; reconstruction method; comparative legal method. Conclusions: firstly, Yuri Zhdanov managed, under challenging conditions, to increase the scientific and educational potential of a university that was not considered a leader in Russian higher education; secondly, as an individual and organizer, he set a model of scientific integrity and pedagogical organization by his own example; thirdly, he always prioritized caring for his hard-working colleagues; and fourthly, he did not tolerate hypocrisy. Scientific and practical significance. This study allows us not only to recall one of the most outstanding public figures in the field of higher education, but also to compare him with contemporary representatives of higher education, who lead Russian scientific and educational organizations in a market economy and are therefore forced to master the art of management to a greater extent than to serve as spiritual leaders of thousands of teams of scientists, teachers, and students