The Independent University of Moscow was founded in 1991 on the initiative of a group of well-known mathematicians who now comprise its Academic Council. This group includes the following members of the Russian Academy of Sciences: V.I.Arnold (chairman of the Council), S.P.Novikov, Ya.G.Sinai, L.D.Faddeev, V.A.Vassiliev and the following professors: A.A.Beilinson, † R.L.Dobrushin, B.A.Dubrovin, A.A.Kirillov, A.N.Rudakov, V.M.Tikhomirov, A.G.Khovansky, M.A.Shubin. Professors P.Deligne and R.MacPherson of Princeton and MIT also played crucial roles in the founding of the University, as did the well-known instructor and organizer of mathematical olympiads, N.N.Konstantinov. In December of 1996, the first seven graduates of the University received their diplomas. The University is a private institution of higher learning for the training of professional mathematicians. Its founding organization is the Moscow Center for Continuous Mathematical Education.Since 1993, the University has offered a (three-year) graduate program. Currently, the following academic advisors work with graduate students in the University: Professors A.I.Bondal, B.L.Feigin, M.V.Finkelberg, Yu.S.Ilyashenko, A.G.Khovanski, A.M.Levin, A.N.Parshin, V.A.Vassiliev, M.I.Vishik, A.G.Vitushkin, O.V.Schwarzman, M.A.Tsfasman, F.L.Zak.The University has a working agreement to collaborate with the well-known French institution of higher learning, École Normale Supérieure (ENS). Each year there is an academic exchange: the best undergraduate and graduate students of the University have the opportunity to spend one month at ENS (in Paris) attending seminars headed by leading French mathematicians; and the University, in turn, opens its doors to students from ENS, for whom special courses are organized.