Alik Ismail-Zadeh is a mathematical geophysicist known for his contribution to computational geodynamics and natural hazard studies, pioneering work on data assimilation in geodynamics as well as for outstanding service to the Earth and space science community. He is Senior Research Fellow (in the rank of Research Professor) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany. Biography and academic career Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, Ismail-Zadeh attended the Bulbul specialized secondary music school of the Baku Academy of Music and Baku High School #134 (specialized in mathematics) between 1967 and 1978. He graduated from the Baku State University and the Lomonosov Moscow State University in 1983 before being awarded Ph.D. degree in 1990 and D.Sc. (Habilitation) in 1997 from the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, Russia. Ismail-Zadeh has been affiliated to the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geology and Geophysics (1983-1986, 1990-1992). He has been chief scientist, research professor and scientific leader of research group "Computational Geodynamics and Geohazard Modeling" of the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Earthquake Prediction Theory and Mathematical Geophysics, Moscow (1992–2022). He has been a visiting scholar, lecturer and professor at several universities and academic centers, including the University of Cambridge (UK), University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Tokyo (Japan), Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (France), the University of Uppsala (Sweden), and the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste (Italy). Scientific interests and results achieved Research interests of Ismail-Zadeh cover geodynamics, seismology, sedimentary geology and tectonics (incl. research for hydrocarbon industry), geohazards, risk analysis, science diplomacy and history. His research methods are also broad covering multi- and interdisciplinary synthesis, theoretical analysis, and numerical experiments. He is a principal author and co-author of over 120 peer-reviewed papers and several books published by the Cambridge University Press, Springer Nature, and others. Scientific results obtained by him and his group are as follows: Inverse Problems and Data Assimilation Introduction of data assimilation in models of geodynamics and applications to mantle (plume) dynamics.; Reconstruction of sinking lithosphere in the southeastern Carpathians; Reconstruction of the western Pacific and Philippine plate subduction beneath the Japanese islands and implication on the Japan Sea opening; Reconstruction of flow and temperature inside volcanic lava flow based on surface observations; Restoration of sedimentary basin evolution complicated by salt tectonics: application to Pricaspian basin of the East European platform. Lithosphere dynamics and seismicity Model of the