Susan Soloman
Susan Solomon is widely recognized as one of the leaders in the field of atmospheric science. Since receiving her PhD in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley in l98l, she has been employed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as a research scientist. Her scientific papers have provided not only key measurements but also theoretical understanding regarding ozone destruction, especially the role of surface chemistry.
In 1986 and 1987, she served as the Head Project Scientist of the National Ozone Expedition at McMurdo Station, Antarctica and made some of the first measurements there that pointed towards chlorofluorocarbons as the cause of the ozone hole. In l994, an Antarctic glacier was named in her honor in recognition of her work. In March of 2000, she received the National Medal of Science, the United States' highest scientific honor, for "key insights in explaining the cause of the Antarctic ozone hole."
She is the recipient of the highest awards of the American Geophysical Union, the American Meteorological Society and the Geochemical Society. She is also a recipient of the Commonwealth Prize and the Lemaitre Prize, as well as the ozone award and Vienna Convention Award from the United Nations Environment Programme. In 1992, R&D magazine honored her as its "scientist of the year" and in 2004 she received the prestigious Blue Planet Prize for "pioneering research identifying the causative mechanisms producing the Antarctic ozone hole."
Her current research includes climate change and ozone depletion. She served as co-chair of the Working Group 1 Fourth Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007), providing scientific information to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. IPCC and Al Gore jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
Susan was named one of the year’s 100 most influential people in Time magazine in 2008. She also received the Grande Medaille of the Academy of Sciences in Paris in 2008 for her leadership in ozone and climate, in addition to the Volvo Environment Prize in 2009.
To learn about more about Boulder's 'New Pioneers', check out our previous Award Winners page.
