Alik Ismail-Zadeh, born in Baku, Azerbaijan, graduated from Baku State University (BSc in mathematics) and the M. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSc in mathematical physics) before being awarded PhD (1990) and DSc (1997) degrees in mathemarical geophysics from the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). Currently he is Senior Research Fellow at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Karlsruhe, Germany, and Chief Scientist / Research Professor at the RAS's Institute of Earthquake Prediction Theory and Mathematical Geophysics in Moscow, Russia. He has been a visiting scholar or guest professor in several academic institutions, incl. the University of Cambridge, University of Californai at Los Angeles, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Univeristy of Tokyo, University of Uppsala, KTH-Stockholm, the University of Trieste, and the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste. His scientific interests cover geophysics, mathematical geosciences, natural hazards and disaster risks, disaster science diplomacy, history of geosciences. He is principal author and co-author of over 100 peer-reviewed research papers, book chapters and books. Ismail-Zadeh is currently Secretary of the International Science Council and was Secretary-General of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG, 2007-2019). He served on the advisory committees of several regional, international and intergovernmental organizations, including CTBTO, U.N. Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, and UNESCO. He is a Member of Academia Europaea, Honorary Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, and IUGG Fellow.