WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 23 – For the second year running, professional tennis player Anna Kournikova took the honors in Washington Profile Information Agency’s annual top-five ranking of America’s most influential Russians. Placing second was legendary ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, followed by Elena Bonner, human rights activist and widow of Nobel Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov, while Dmitry Simes, Nixon Center president, and Nikolai Zlobin, senior fellow at the Center for Defense Information, took fourth and fifth places, respectively.  

The ranking was obtained by asking post-Soviet, Russia and CIS experts to choose from among 100 prominent Russian-born Americans and Russian citizens living in the United States those individuals they believed had been most influential during 2004. Washington Profile conducted additional top-five rankings this year by further dividing the list into five separate categories according to general areas of expertise. The categories were: science, technology and education; business; politics, human rights and media; culture and the arts; and sports.

The experts, who numbered just over 50, could select as many or as few personalities as they wished from each category. Votes garnered for each individual were then tallied within each category and a respective ranking was established, in addition to the overall ranking.

Apart from reaching prominence in their respective fields, individuals chosen to appear in the list of 100 had to meet certain other criteria, including being born in Russia or the former Soviet Union, and currently or formerly residing in the United States on a long-term basis (e.g., writer Vassily Aksyonov, included in the list, for years resided in America, but now lives in Europe).

Following are the other top-five rankings, broken down by the five broad areas of expertise:

Science, Technology and Education

1. Dr. Roald Sagdeev, physicist, University of Maryland professor and Eisenhower Institute fellow.
2. Ken Alibek, microbiologist, infectious diseases and immunology specialist, George Mason University professor and executive director for education and science at the National Center for Biodefense.
3. Alexei Kampov-Polevoi, professor of psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and son of writer Boris Polevoi.
4. Andrei Shleifer, economist and Harvard University professor.
5. Alexander Kaplan, quantum mechanics specialist and Johns Hopkins University professor.

Business

1. Vladimir Gusinsky, media tycoon and head of RTVi.
2. Segei Brin, co-founder of Google Internet search engine.
3. Simon Kukes, Yukos CEO.
4. Len Blavatnik, president of Access Industries.
5. Sam Kislin, head of Trans Commodities.

Politics, Human Rights and Media

1. Elena Bonner, former dissident, human rights activist and widow of Nobel Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov.
2. Dmitry Simes, president of The Nixon Center.
3. Nikolai Zlobin, senior fellow and director of Russian and Asian Programs at the Center for Defense Information.
4. Ariel Cohen, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
5. Leon Aron, director of Russian studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

Culture and the Arts

1. Mikhail Baryshnikov, ballet dancer, choreographer and actor.
2. Isaac Stern, concert violinist.
3. Vassily Aksyonov, writer.
4. Andrei Konchalovsky, director.
5. Ernst Neizvestny, sculptor.

Sports

1. Anna Kournikova, professional tennis player and photo model.
2. Maria Sharapova, professional tennis player and 2004 Wimbledon Champion.
3. Pavel Bure, NHL hockey player.
4. Sasha Cohen, Olympic figure skater.
5. Lenny Krazelburg, Olympic swimmer and Igor Larionov, NHL hockey player.