Susan Solomon
Research Interests
Susan Solomon is internationally recognized as a leader in atmospheric science, particularly for her insights
in explaining the cause of the Antarctic ozone "hole" and for her leadership of the 2007 science report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). She currently focuses on issues relating to both
atmospheric chemistry and climate change.
Professional Experience
Research Chemist at the Aeronomy Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
Boulder, Colorado, 1981-1990.
Program Leader, Middle Atmosphere group of the Aeronomy Laboratory, 1988-1990. Senior Scientist,
Aeronomy Laboratory, 1991-2011.
Professor Adjoint, University of Colorado at Boulder, 1985-present.
Visiting Scholar, University of Washington, Seattle, Spring, 2007.
Acting Director, Atmospheric Chemistry Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder,
Colorado, Nov. 1995-Nov. 1996.
Co-chair, Working Group 1 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2002-2008.
Education
1977 B.S. Chemistry, Illinois Inst. of Tech., Chicago, Illinois.
1978 M.S. Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley.
1981 Ph.D. Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley.
Selected Honors and Awards
Solomon Glacier (78°23'S, 162°30'E) and Solomon Saddle (78°23'S, 162°39'E) were named in honor
of leadership in Antarctic research in l994.
Carl-Gustaf Rossby Medal, American Meteorological Society, January, 2000.
National Medal of Science, United States of America, March, 2000.
Blue Planet Prize, Asahi Glass Foundation, November, 2004.
Vienna Convention Award, November, 2005
Bowie Medal, American Geophysical Union, 2007.
Grande Medaille, highest award of the French Academy of Sciences, 2008.
Named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2008.
Member: US National Women's Hall of Fame, 2009.
Member: US National Academy of Sciences, American Philosophical Society;
Foreign member French Academy of Sciences, Royal Society, European Academy.
Recipient of numerous honorary doctorates from universities in the US and abroad.
Selected Key Publications
Garcia, R.R., and S. Solomon. A numerical model of the zonally averaged dynamical and chemical structure
of the middle atmosphere, J. Geophys. Res., 88, 1379, 1983.
Brasseur, G., and S. Solomon, Aeronomy of the Middle Atmosphere, Reidel Pub., Co., Dordrecht, first edition
1984, second edition 1987, third edition 2005. (in English, also translated into Russian and Chinese).
Solomon, S., R.R. Garcia, F.S. Rowland, and D.J. Wuebbles, On the depletion of Antarctic ozone, Nature,
321, 755-758, 1986.
Solomon, S., G.H. Mount, R.W. Sanders and A.L. Schemltekopf, Visible spectroscopy at McMurdo Station,
Antarctica, 2. Observation of OClO, J. Geophys. Res., 92, 8329-8338, 1987.
Solomon, S., G.H. Mount, R.W. Sanders, R.O. Jakoubek, and A.L. Schmeltekopf, Observation of the nighttime
abundance of OClO in the winter stratosphere above Thule, Greenland, Science, 242, 550-555, 1988.
Hofmann, D., and S. Solomon, Ozone depletion through heterogeneous chemistry following the eruption of the
El Chichon Volcano, J. Geophys. Res., 94, 5029-5041, 1989.
Solomon, S., Antarctic ozone: progress towards a quantitative understanding, Nature, 347, 347-354, l990.
Solomon, S., R. W. Sanders, R. R. Garcia, and J. G. Keys, Enhanced chlorine dioxide and ozone depletion in
Antarctica due to volcanic aerosols, Nature, 363, 245-248, l993.
Solomon, S., R. W. Portmann, R. R. Garcia, L. W. Thomason, L. R. Poole, and M. P. McCormick, The role of
aerosol variations in anthropogenic ozone depletion at northern mid-latitudes, J. Geophys. Res., 101,
6713-6728, l996.
Solomon, S., Stratospheric ozone depletion: A review of concepts and history, Rev. Geophys., 37, 275-316, l999.
Thompson, D. W. J., and S. Solomon, Interpretation of recent southern hemisphere climate change, Science,
296, 895-899, 2002.
Solomon, S., R. W. Portmann, T. Sasaki, D. J. Hofmann, and D. W. J. Thompson, Four decades of ozonesonde
measurements over Antarctica, J. Geophys. Res., 2005.
Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. Averyt, M. Tignor and H.L. Miller (eds.)]. 2007:
Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth
Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.
Solomon, S., G.-K. Platter, R. Knutti, and P. Friedlingstein, Irreversible climate change due to carbon dioxide
emissions, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 106, 1704-1709, doi: 10.1073/pnas.-9128211-6, 2009.
last modified: May 23, 2011
