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Susan Solomon (CHEM ’77)
Antarctica and Back: the Hole Truth
Susan Solomon (CHEM '77) traveled all the way to Antarctica to conduct research that fueled her breakthrough theory: manmade chlorofluorocarbons were destroying the ozone layer.
This pioneering thesis led the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, of which she was a member, to win the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
Solomon's road to discovery began at IIT, where her professor told her about a fellowship at the National Center for Atmospheric Research; the opportunity led to a rewarding career path. "I benefitted a lot from the fact that IIT was a small school. I could talk to the professors."
She was a senior scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration until 2011 and is the Ellen Swallow Richards Professor at MIT. Not only does Solomon have a glacier named after her, in 1999 she was given the United States' highest scientific honor, the National Medal of Science.
Solomon's work is internationally recognized, and her findings have the world thinking about how to stop climate change.