Who is sherwood rowland

Rowland's science always stood tall, as did he, and seemed inerrant. He kept up his interests in ozone and environmental policy, but his research moved on. Soon after the ozone hole was discovered over Antarctica, he made major contributions with his graduate student Neil Harris to the detection of ozone depletion over the Northern Hemisphere.

This work was crucial in persuading DuPont and other chemical companies to abandon CFCs in favour of hydrochlorofluorocarbons, which are less damaging to the ozone layer. In the late s, Rowland initiated a programme to monitor background concentrations of various gases, and that continues today. Six of its group members were working in the field when he passed away.

His curiosity demanded an objective approach, and so it was when, working with his former student and then fellow professor D. In , he was involved in discussions regarding the mix of atmospheric hydrocarbons resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Over almost five decades, Rowland was active in his research lab as well as teaching, playing tennis and having collegial discussions over lunch.

When not travelling, he could be seen carrying his briefcase in one hand, with a pile of papers under the other arm, to and from his office. He was a prolific note-taker, filling a notebook in a week. This practice intimidated one of us M. Rowland treated everyone like a colleague. He disarmingly considered questions from any listener with the depth and profundity due a scientific peer.

This trait was appreciated by students, friends and family. To Sherry, the question was of foremost importance; it was at the core of his scientific quest.

His passing ended a unique career that merged chemistry and atmospheric sciences, leading to a new partnership between science and policy for the protection of our planet. Michael J. Donald R. You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar. Correspondence to Michael J. Reprints and Permissions. Prather, M. He graduated from school early, shortly before his sixteenth birthday, and enrolled at Ohio Wesleyan University, where his father was Professor of Mathematics.

He volunteered for the U. Navy in June and was discharged in August He returned to Ohio Wesleyan where he majored in chemistry, physics and mathematics, graduating in , before going on to the University of Chicago and gaining an MSc in , and PhD in At Chicago he worked as a radiochemist with Willard F. Just three weeks before his 25th birthday, in June , Rowland married fellow graduate Joan Lundberg.

He then took a job as Chemistry Instructor at Princeton. The couple have two children. Rowland, however, realised that the molecule could not remain inert forever, and the following year he proposed a research programme, funded by the AEC, to find out what would eventually happen to the cfc compounds in the atmosphere. Sherry continued his research as well, and contributed concepts and data that made his earlier research more robust.

In his public presentations he was always current, showed his data and never exaggerated, thereby reinforcing his credibility. With his colleague and former student Don Blake, Sherry reported exacting measurements in showing that the greenhouse gas methane was growing in concentration in air samples from all over the world.

This finding attracted much attention and demonstrated that human-caused climate change can extend beyond carbon dioxide released from fossil-fuel burning. In the months before his death, Sherry pursued a totally new avenue of research with Blake: measuring chemicals in human breath to see if they could provide a new method of discerning diseases. The second of three sons, Sherry was born in Delaware, Ohio. His father was professor of mathematics at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Sherry studied there and at Chicago University, then became instructor in chemistry at Princeton University After an assistant professorship at the University of Kansas , he was made professor of chemistry at the University of California, Irvine. Sherry and I met after we learned that we were both studying chlorine in the atmosphere. For the next 10 years, we talked on the phone almost every day.

I considered him my best friend and know other scientists who feel the same way. His exemplary scientific rigour, honesty, dignity and collegiality made him a role model to emulate in the heat of today's politically charged science debates.

He is survived by his wife, Joan, whom he married in , their children, Ingrid and Jeffrey, and two grandchildren.