Vyacheslav Volodin (Âÿ÷åñëàâ Âèêòîðîâè÷ Âîëîäèí) was born on Feb. 4, 1964, in Alexeyevka in the Saratov region's Khvalynsk district.

Education: Mechanical engineering, Saratov Kalinin Agriculture Mechanization Institute, 1986. Law, Presidential Civil Service Academy, 1995. Ph.D. law, Interior Ministry's St. Petersburg Institute, 1996 (thesis: "A Russian Constituent Entity: Problems of Power, Law-making and Administration").

1990: Elected deputy to the Saratov city council, where he became a member of the city presidium and director of the commission on youth affairs

1991: Elected deputy and deputy speaker of the Saratov regional legislature

1992: Appointed property manager and deputy head of the Saratov municipal administration

1993: Head of the department of state and regional administration at the Povolzhsky Personnel Center (later Povolzhsky Civil Service Academy)

1994: Elected to the Saratov regional legislature on the Russian Union of Reserve Officers' party list

1996: Served as deputy governor of the Saratov regional government under Governor Dmitry Ayatskov. Earlier, as first deputy prime minister, Volodin worked on economic and investment policy.

December 1999: Elected to the State Duma from the Fatherland All-Russia party list

September 2001: Elected head of the Fatherland-All Russia party faction in the State Duma

December 2003: Re-elected to the Duma representing Balakovo, Saratov region

January 2003: Elected deputy Duma speaker and first deputy head of the United Russia faction. (United Russia was founded in 2001 by the merger of Sergei Shoigu's Unity party, Yury Luzhkov's Fatherland party, and Mintimer Shaimiyev's All Russia party.)

April 2005: Elected secretary of the presidium of the general council of United Russia and chairman of the supervisory council of the Saratov-based Chernyshevsky State University

2007: Elected deputy chairman of United Russia under chairman Boris Gryzlov

October 2010: Appointed deputy prime minister and chief of staff of the government's Executive Office by presidential decree

Volodin is married and has a daughter.