Susan Solomon, M.S. '79, Ph.D. '81
Senior Scientist, NOAA
Excellence in Achievement
Susan Solomon is Senior Scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She is world-renowned for her research on chlorofluorocarbons and the expansion of the ozone hole over the Antarctic. Sparked by Jacques Cousteau specials at age 10, Solomon discovered her love of science and research in her teens when she won third prize in the International Science Fair. She originally planned to study marine biology, but eventually settled on atmospheric chemistry during her senior year at the Illinois Institute of Technology. She received her masters and doctorate degrees at Cal in chemistry in the late 70’s, at a time when it was still considered uncommon for women to be studying advanced science.
Solomon was focused on computer simulations, satellite imaging, and other esoteric atmospheric studies when the depletion of the ozone layer became headlines in 1985. Revisiting ideas from her doctorate thesis, she theorized that intense surface chemistry on the polar clouds – not gas-based chemistry - could account for the depletion. To prove her theory, she led the 1986-7 National Ozone Expedition to the McMurdo Station, where she made some of the very first measurements of CFC’s and proving their effect on the ozone. Despite initial scientific controversy, her original ideas have been validated many times over. In 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, “ and in 2004 she received the prestigious Blue Planet Prize for "pioneering research identifying the causative mechanisms producing the Antarctic ozone hole."
Solomon is the author of The Coldest March, an account of Captain Robert Scott’s fatal 1912 polar expedition. Scott was long considered heroic, but incompetent for his failure to negotiate the South Pole. Through meticulous research of meteorological records, Solomon proved that aberrant weather, not ineptitude, doomed Scott’s team. Her “forensic” work restored Scott’s reputation nearly a century after his death.
Solomon holds numerous honorary degrees and awards including the J. B. MacElwane Award of the American Geophysical Union, the Department of Commerce Gold Medal for Exceptional Service, and the Henry G. Houghton and Carl-Gustaf Rossby Awards of the American Meteorological Society for excellence in research. In l992, R&D magazine honored her as its "scientist of the year". She is serving as co-chair of Working Group 1 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), providing scientific information to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Solomon Glacier (78°23'S, 162°30'E) and Solomon Saddle (78°23'S, 162°39'E) were named in honor of her leadership in Antarctic research.
Personal Statement
I think of myself as a very privileged person. I have the satisfaction of doing things that are relevant. Having a goal and the idea of public service are absolutely consistent with what I do as a scientist. This planet supports many people and will have many more who will be putting all kinds of chemicals and substances in the atmosphere, so the 21st century will have enormous opportunities for people in many areas of environmental chemistry, including climate change. Science has a very important role to play in serving society, helping to understand what is happening and why. But in my opinion, that is where my job as a scientist stops and those of others - the economists and the politicians - begins. Science is an important input to many societal choices, but it is only one input. And when we keep our science focused on the historic standards of scientific values of objectivity, leaving politics and personal opinion to others, I think we contribute the most we can to the world.
I've always been very grateful to have had the chance to go to graduate school at Berkeley. Among all the places I've ever been, from pole to pole and back, Berkeley certainly is one of the most beautiful and influential in my life. It’s been a unique experience, and it’s a great honor to receive this award to boot.
