UNEP Twentieth Anniversary of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer 1985-2005

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The Vienna Convention Award For Outstanding Contributions to the Protection of the Ozone Layer

The Award Winners

Ayite-Lo Nohende Ajavon (Togo)

Daniel L. Albritton (USA)

James G. Anderson (USA)

Pieter J. Aucamp (South Africa)

Rumen D. Bojkov (Bulgaria)

Paul Josef Crutzen (Netherlands)

Joseph Charles Farman (UK)

Jan C. van der Leun (Netherlands)

Mario Molina (Mexico)

Godwin Olu Patrick Obasi (Nigeria)

Frank Sherwood Rowland (USA)

Susan Solomon (USA)

Xiaoyan Tang (China)

Manfred Tevini (Germany)

Mostafa Kamal Tolba (Egypt)

Robert T.Watson (USA)

PROFILES

Ayite-Lo Nohende Ajavon (Togo)

During his career, Professor Ajavon has served in different positions in national and international programmes including: Director of the Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratory of the University of Lome, Senior Adviser of the Minister of Environment, Co-Chair of the Scientific Assessment Panel for the Montreal Protocol, Chair of the World Bank Carbon Finance Steering Committee, Chair of the Consultative Expert Group (CGE), Designated National Authority for Intergovernmental Forum for Chemical Safety (IFCS), Chair of International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) National Committee, Member of IGAC/DABITS/AFRICA Scientific Steering Committee, Member of African Global Analysis Interpretation and Modeling (GAIM) Interim Task Team, and Member of International Council for Science (ICSU) Regional Committee.

The priority areas of interest of Professor Ajavon include: the Vienna Convention and its Montreal Protocol, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol, Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent (PIC), Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), capacity building and technology transfer. His current areas of work cover the fields of stratospheric ozone and ozone-depleting substances, tropospheric ozone and climate change, with projects including: tropospheric ozone evaluation and its impact on humans, animals and plants; ozone exchange between the stratosphere and troposphere; greenhouse gas inventories, emissions by sources and removal by sinks in the coastal zone of the Gulf of Guinea; improving greenhouse gas emission factors in tropical Africa; and the impacts of biomass burning. He is responsible for atmospheric lectures at universities of Abomey-Calavi (Benin), Abobo-Adjame (Cote d'Ivoire) and Lome (Togo). He has also worked on training Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and journalists. In addition to the numerous teaching positions, Professor Ajavon also held a research position at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany. Professor Ajavon is the author of numerous ozone and climate change-related publications, and contributed to the 2002 Scientific Assessment Report of the Scientific Assessment Panel.

Daniel L. Albritton (USA)

Dr. Daniel Albritton was born in Cadmen, Alabama in 1936. He obtained a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, M.S. (1963) and Ph.D. (1967) in Physics in Georgia Institute of Technology.

Dr. Albritton is the Director of the Aeronomy Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Boulder, Colorado. Dr. Albritton is one the world's foremost experts on atmospheric science and in particular, ozone layer depletion and global climate change. He has been a Co-Chair of the Scientific Assessment Panel under the Montreal Protocol since its inception and he is also a Coordinating Lead Author on the recent assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the science of the climate system.

Dr. Albritton joined the Aeronomy Laboratory in 1967 and became Director in 1986. Through his leadership, the laboratory has met pressing national and international needs for sound scientific information in three major areas: ozone-layer depletion, air quality, and climate change and protection. His signature contribution, spanning 15 years, is his sustained leadership of timely state-of-understanding assessment reports on all three topics. These critical contributions, along with Dr. Albritton's personal skills and tireless efforts at communicating scientific findings with the highest standards of integrity and accuracy, have become the scientific basis for national and global decision-makers at all levels. Dr. Albritton has developed a reputation as an outstanding speaker who is able to very effectively explain complex scientific processes to audiences who may not possess extensive education in the area of atmospheric science. Dr. Albritton is recognized for his sustained, extraordinary accomplishments as an eminent scientist, for exceptional leadership of NOAA's Aeronomy Laboratory, and for his unique role as "scientist-statesman" for NOAA and the USA.

Dr Albritton has received numerous awards and honours including two Department of Commerce Gold Medal Awards and three Presidential Rank Awards. For his role in leading scientific assessments of stratospheric ozone depletion, he has received a 1992 Special Award from the American Meteorological Society, the 1993 Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the 1994 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award, and a 1995 UNEP Ozone Award.

James G. Anderson (USA)

Dr. James Anderson was born in 1944 in Spokane, Washington. He earned his Ph.D. in physics and astrogeophysics from the University of Colorado.

From August to October 1987, the NASA ER-2 and the DC-8 aircraft were flown out of Punta Arenas, Chile, to determine the cause of the Antarctic ozone hole. This was the Airborne Antarctic Ozone Expedition (AAOE) mission. At the time the mission began, the Antarctic ozone hole had been discovered, but its causes were not yet clearly understood. The 1986 NOZE I expedition, which launched balloon-borne instruments from McMurdo station in Antarctica, had provided evidence strongly suggesting that perturbed chlorine chemistry was involved. But there was still no conclusive proof that chlorine was to blame for the ozone hole, and whether the hole was a natural phenomenon having to do with changes in temperature and air circulation, or whether it was caused by chlorine compounds contributed by man-made chemicals, was still a matter of debate. By fortuitous coincidence, a suite of instruments had been developed for measuring trace gases in the lower stratosphere from the ER-2. These instruments, which measured ozone, water vapour, NOy, and meteorological variables, had just flown during the Stratosphere-Troposphere Exchange Project (STEP). In addition, Dr. James Anderson's group at Harvard University was able to design an adaptation of their balloon-borne instrument to measure ClO and BrO from the ER-2 that flew into the Antarctic region in August and September 1987. With the addition of some other instruments to measure particles from polar stratospheric clouds, a set of 13 instruments was available and ready to take the measurements needed. In addition, seven instruments flew aboard the DC-8, including a laser device which looked up into the stratosphere to measure ozone profiles.

Dr. Anderson has pioneered the in situ detection of stratospheric free radicals from balloon and high-altitude aircraft platforms. His elegant measurements and brilliant analysis of ClO radical concentrations over Antarctica have quantitatively demonstrated the mechanisms caused by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other man-made chlorine compounds responsible for the observed massive springtime ozone depletion. His research interests include gas phase kinetics of free radicals, photochemistry of planetary atmospheres, kinetics of excited molecular states, in situ detection of free radicals in the troposphere and stratosphere, the coupling of chemistry, dynamics and radiation in the climate system, and development of high accuracy climate observations from earth's orbit.

Dr. Anderson is a recipient of the UNEP Ozone Award; the National Academy of Sciences Arthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship; the E. O. Lawrence Award in Environmental Science and Technology; the American Chemical Society's Gustavus John Esselen Award for Chemistry in the Public Interest; and the University of Washington's Arts and Sciences Distinguished Alumnus Achievement Award. In addition, he received the United Nations Earth Day International Award; Harvard University's 1989 Ledley Prize for Most Valuable Contribution to Science by a Member of the Faculty; and the American Chemical Society's National Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology.

Pieter J. Aucamp (South Africa)

Dr. Pieter Aucamp graduated from the University of the Orange Free State where he obtained a D.Sc. in Chemistry based on research on mycotoxins occurring in food. He started his career doing research in the Department of Agriculture and later at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. After teaching Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Analysis at the Pretoria Technikon, he developed the new South African Water Information Centre at the CSIR. He designed the world-renowned bibliographic database Waterlit. In 1981, he became Director of Laboratory Services in the Department of Health. Two years later, he was promoted to Chief Director of Environmental, Forensic and Research Services. In this capacity, he controlled all the laboratories and research institutes of the Department. Air Pollution Control, Water and Waste Control, Radiation Control and the Environmental Health Officers also reported to him. When he left the Department in 1995, he was the Deputy Director General: Academic Health Matters. After a year as Director of Research at the Pretoria University, he became an Environmental Management Consultant, concentrating on environmental impact assessments and the design of environmental management systems. He is qualified and registered by the German TGA as lead auditor for ISO 14000, ISO 9000 and OHSAS 18000. He regularly reviews environmental impact reports on behalf of the authorities. He is a Professor in Environmental Management at the Potchefstroom campus of the Northwest University where he is responsible for all post graduate training and research in environmental management. He is the presenter/co-presenter of several short environmental (management) courses at the Environmental Management Unit of the University.

He has been an advisor on safety, health and environmental issues to various organizations including the South African government's Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. He served as a Co-Chair of the Scientific Assessment Panel of UNEP for the assessments conducted in 1994 and 1998 but left this Panel in 2001 and became a member of the Environmental and Health Effect Assessment Panel of UNEP. He is the author of several scientific and popular scientific articles.

Rumen D. Bojkov (Bulgaria)

Dr. Bojkov has a B.Sc. in physics and a M.Sc. in meteorology and geophysics from the University of Sofia (Bulgaria 1955). He also holds a Ph.D. in physics and mathematics from the University of Moscow (USSR 1964) and a D.Sc. in atmospheric physics from the University of Rostock (Germany 1971).

Dr. Bojkov was associate professor of stratospheric physics at the University of Sofia (1960-64) and at the State University of New York at Albany (1968-69). He also taught post-graduate courses in the Meteorological Department in Cairo (1969, 1972 and 2001) and Atmospheric Physics Department of University of Thessaloniki (1991-2001). He held research fellowships in the Canadian Meteorological Service (1960-61, 1965-66) and in the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research - NCAR (1966-68) working on the ozone and atmospheric circulation problems.

From 1970 to 1983 he was Chief of the Atmospheric Sciences Division of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in Geneva being responsible for promotion and development of the international activities in the broad field of atmospheric sciences including weather modification, ozone and climate issues. He initiated the first international assessment on the state of the ozone layer as early as 1975, which highlighted the potential threat of ozone destruction by the CFC's and guided the full development of the WMO Global Ozone Observing System (GO3OS). He was an active contributor to the preparation of the Vienna Convention. In 1984-87 he continued ozone research at the Canadian Atmospheric Environment Service (WMO World Ozone Data Center), where he reached the position of "Chief Scientist". In early 1988 he returned to WMO as head of the Atmospheric Environment Research programme, and was one of the key organizers of the WMO/UNEP Ozone Assessments in 1988, 1990, 1991, 1994 and 1998. He was the driving force in renovating the global monitoring of atmospheric composition by initiating the WMO Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) system and organized numerous contributions towards the Global Climate Change issue and possibility for precipitation enhancement. From 1991 to 2003, he was Special Advisor of the Secretary-General of WMO on Ozone and Global Environmental Issues (and in 1991-1997 in parallel also to the Executive Director of UNEP). Currently he is Senior Coordinator for the WMO/UAE Prize on Weather Modification and is also adjunct professor for ozone and climate change in Dresden University of Technology (Centre for International Postgraduate Studies of Environmental Management).
In 1984 he was elected Secretary of the International Ozone Commission of IAMAS-ICSU, re-elected three times and continued to serve until July 2000 when he was elected as Honorary Member of the Ozone Commission.

Dr. Bojkov is an elected fellow of the American Meteorological Society since 1986. In 2000 he was elected Honorary Member of the Hellenic Meteorological Society. He was four times distinguished with special citations from the American Geophysical Union (AGU) for excellence in refereeing (1991, 1993, 1995, 2000); has received award citations for contribution to the study of stratosphere from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA-USA), by the Commission for Atmospheric Sciences (CAS-WMO), by the Balkan Physical Union (BPU), etc. He is a recipient of the UNEP Ozone Award for "Outstanding Contribution to the Protection of the Ozone Layer" (1995). Dr. Bojkov has published more than 115 scientific refereed papers, a university text-book on atmospheric physics, 4 scientific brochures and has also initiated, written and edited dozens of international reports, many of which are widely known in the world community of atmospheric scientists.

Paul Josef Crutzen (Netherlands)

Born in Amsterdam on 3 December 1933, Paul J. Crutzen was trained as a civil engineer and worked with the Bridge Construction Bureau of the City of Amsterdam. In 1959 he joined Stockholm University to study mathematics, mathematical statistics, meteorology and atmospheric chemistry. His research has been especially concerned with the natural and anthropogenically disturbed photochemistry of ozone in the stratosphere and troposphere.

Professor Paul Crutzen won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1995 (with Professor M. Molina and Professor F.S. Rowland) for his pioneering work on the stratospheric ozone. Like Professors Molina and Rowland, Professor Crutzen made pioneering contributions to explaining how ozone is formed and decomposes through chemical processes in the atmosphere. Most importantly, his work showed how sensitive the ozone layer is to the influence of anthropogenic emissions of certain compounds, thus contributed to saving the earth from possible catastrophic consequences of ozone layer depletion. Professor Crutzen made the fundamental step towards a deeper understanding of the chemistry of the ozone layer by showing.in 1970, that the nitrogen oxides NO and NO2 react catalytically (without themselves being consumed) with ozone, thus accelerating the rate of reduction of the ozone content.

He currently divides his time between the Scripps Institution of the Oceanography, University of California, La Jolla, USA and The Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry, Germany. His main scientific interest is the role of atmospheric chemistry in climate and biogeochemical cycles. Between 1980-2000 he was Director of the Atmospheric Chemistry Division of the Max-Planck- Institute for Chemistry, Mainz (November, 2000, emeritus). He was a member of the special planning committee of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) (1986-1990), member of the German Parliament Committee for "The Protection of the Earth's Atmosphere" (1987-1990). He was Vice-Chairman of the Scientific Committee for the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (1998-2003).

Professor Crutzen is a recipient of the UNEP Ozone Award for "Outstanding Contribution to the Protection of the Ozone Layer" (1995), Max-Planck-Forschungspreis (1994), the German Environmental Prize (1994), Louis J. Battan Author's Award given by the American Meteorological Society (1996), Worldwide most cited author in the Geosciences with 2911 citations from 110 publications during the decade 1991-2001, ISI (Institute for Scientific Information, Philadelphia, USA), issue Nov./Dec. 2001, Doctor, honoris causa, from more than fourteen universities. He was named honorary member of the American Meteorological Society, the European Geophysical Society, the Commission on Atmospheric Chemistry and Global Pollution, the Swedish Meteorological Society, and many more. He was also named "Hero of the Planet" by Time Magazine, Special Edition, Earth Day, (April-May 2000), and honored by the Karamanlis Institute for Democracy in Athens, Greece, for outstanding contributions to Science and Society with a Golden Medal (highest destinction) given by the Academy of Athens in October 2003. Professor Crutzen also serves as a member of the Council of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

Joseph Charles Farman (UK)

Born in Norwich, UK in 1930, and having gained his degree from the University of Cambridge, Joseph Farman was appointed as a scientific officer to the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey - the forerunner of British Antarctic Survey (BAS). After two winters in the Argentine Islands he returned to the UK and became Head of the Geophysics Section of BAS and a senior research fellow with the University of Edinburgh, to which the Section was affiliated. Moving back to Cambridge in 1976 to the newly built BAS HQ, Dr. Farman held a variety of positions from Head of the Stratosphere Section to Head of Chemistry, Radiation and Dynamics.

Dr. Farman's scientific career began in 1957 when he joined the British Antarctic Survey. In 1981, he began to notice extraordinarily low levels of stratospheric ozone. For three more years the data continued to repeat itself and he published a report on it in the May 16, 1985 edition of Nature magazine, where he described a 40% decrease of stratospheric ozone over Antarctica in one month. Dr. Farman and his colleagues had discovered the Antarctic ozone hole. In speculating as to the cause of such a drastic decline, he discussed the possibility that CFCs in the atmosphere might have something to do with it. In 1973, Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina had developed a theory predicting the loss of stratospheric ozone. Their theory implicated CFCs, according to which it takes years to break down ozone. In 1974, Mario Molina predicted a 5-7% ozone loss by 1995. In Antarctica, by contrast, ozone declined by 40% in just one month. He concurred with the Rowland- Molina theory that outlined a series of chemical reactions resulting in ozone destruction, but he found that the rate of reaction was clearly more rapid in Antarctica.

Dr. Farman has been honoured with several awards including the Polar Medal, O.B.E., International Ozone Commission (WMO) Certificate for 30 years service to ozone studies, UNEP Global 500 Roll of Honour, UNEP Global Ozone Award, Environment Medal of the Society of Chemical Industry, Charles Chree Medal of the Institute of Physics, C.B.E., Doctor, Honoris Causa, of University of Sussex, Anglia Polytechnic University, University of Colorado at Boulder and University of Hertfordshire.

Jan C. van der Leun (Netherlands)

Professor van der Leun was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands in 1928. He earned his Ph.D. in Biophysics at Utrecht University in 1966, on thesis entitled "Ultraviolet Erythema; a study on diffusion processes in human skin".

Professor van der Leun is an Emeritus professor of the Utrecht University, the Netherlands, whose current research interests include the effects of ozone depletion, especially on the biosphere, as well as the interconnections between ozone depletion and climate change. He is also currently a guest co-worker at Ecofys BV, an international company working for "a sustainable energy supply for everyone", and a guest investigator of Leiden University Medical College. He was the Chairman of UNEP's Effects section of the Coordinating Committee on the Ozone Layer (1982-1988) and is the Co-Chair of UNEP's Environmental Effects Assessment Panel under the Montreal Protocol since its inception.

Prior to his appointment as Emeritus professor in 1993, Professor van der Leun held the posts of assistant professor of physics in medicine at Cornell University Medical College, New York City, head of the Photodermatology Unit in the Institute of Dermatology of Utrecht University and professor of dermatology and photodermatology at Utrecht University.

Professor van der Leun's significant contribution to ozone protection has been recognized through numerous awards including the 1995 UNEP Global Ozone Award "for his contributions to the recognition and solution of a global environmental threat" and 1997 UNEP Global 500 Roll of Honour for Environmental Achievement "for practical environmental achievement, especially for explaining the problem of the ozone layer to governments and policy makers", also the ESP gave him the Medal award in 2003"for long, dedicated and outstanding scientific contribution within the field of photobiology". In 2004, Professor van der Leun was made a Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion "for his scientific work and for applying the results for the sake of the environment".

Mario Molina (Mexico)

Professor Molina holds a Chemical Engineering degree (1965) from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, a postgraduate degree (1967) from the University of Freiburg, Germany, and a PhD in Physical Chemistry (1972) from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Professor at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), with a joint appointment in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Prior to joining the MIT in 1989, he held teaching and research positions at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico; the University of California, Irvine, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology.

Professor Mario Molina has played a key role in developing our understanding of the chemistry of the stratospheric ozone layer and its susceptibility to human-made perturbations. In 1974 he was a co-author, with Sherwood Rowland, of the publication in the British magazine Nature, of their research on the threat to the ozone layer from CFC gases that were being used as propellants in spray cans, as refrigerants, and solvents. His work in this area was recognized in 1995 when he, along with Professors Sherwood Rowland and Paul Crutzen, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Professor Molina currently holds the appointment of Institute Professor with the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences and the Department of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His recent work has involved the chemistry of air pollution of the lower atmosphere. He is also pursuing interdisciplinary work on tropospheric pollution issues, working with colleagues from many other disciplines on the problem of rapidly growing cities with severe air pollution.

Professor Molina is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. He has served on the US President's Committee of Advisors in Science and Technology, the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board, National Research Council Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, and on the boards of the US-Mexico Foundation of Science and other non-profit environmental organizations. He has received numerous awards for his scientific work including the Tyler Ecology and Energy Prize in 1983, the UNEP-Sasakawa Award in 1999, and the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Prof. Godwin Olu Patrick Obasi (Nigeria)

Professor Obasi holds a B.Sc Honours (1959) in Mathematics and Physics from McGill University, Canada; M.Sc. with distinction (1960) and a D.Sc. (1963) in meteorology both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. He won the Carl Rossby Award for the best doctoral degree thesis in MIT (1963).

Professor Godwin Olu Patrick Obasi, a Nigerian citizen, was the Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) for five four-year terms (1984-2003). Within the WMO scope of competence, he has made major contributions to the implementation of the Vienna Convention and its Montreal Protocol. Professor Obasi served the Nigerian Government in several capacities including that of an Adviser to the Federal Government of Nigeria in meteorological research and training. From 1967 to 1976, he was Professor of Meteorology, Chairman of the Department of Meteorology and Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. In 1978, he joined the WMO Secretariat as the Director of the Education and Training Department.

As Secretary-General of WMO, Professor Obasi has been at the forefront of promoting global solutions to environmental problems, with special attention to the atmosphere, fresh water and the oceans, as well as to related issues that have implications for the environment. The science of ozone depletion was one of the issues he strongly promoted. He, together with the then Executive Director of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Dr. Tolba, initiated the negotiations on the Vienna Convention and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and also contributed to the establishment of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. Prof. Obasi has given his strong support to the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), and exercised a key leadership role together with Dr. Tolba, in the establishment of the WMO/UNEP Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He took the lead role in the organization of the Second World Climate Conference and in the establishment of the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS).

Professor Obasi has published over 150 scientific and technical papers and continues to prepare and deliver scientific and policy-related lectures to several high-level meetings, including at ministerial and Heads of State and Government levels. He is a Consulting Editor to many international journals in meteorology.

Professor Obasi is a Vice-President of the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences and Academician of the International Academy of Sciences of Nature and Society (Armenia). Prof. Obasi has also been honored by other academies of sciences, by several universities as Doctor, Honoris Causa, and by governments world-wide. He is a Fellow and honorary member of 14 Meteorological and Hydrological Societies.

Dr. F. Sherwood Rowland (USA)

Dr. F. Sherwood Rowland, Donald Bren Research Professor of Chemistry and Earth System Science, came to the University of California, Irvine in 1964 as the first chair of the Department of Chemistry. He earned his bachelor's degree from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1948, and his masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Chicago under the direction of Professor Willard Libby, 1960 winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In 1995, Rowland shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Mario Molina and Paul Crutzen, "for their work on atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone." Rowland is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, for whom he served as Foreign Secretary from July, 1994, to June, 2002. He is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the Institute of Medicine, and has been elected as a Foreign Member of the Royal Society. Dr. Rowland is a specialist in atmospheric chemistry and radiochemistry, and has authored or co-authored more than 400 scientific publications.

Dr. Rowland was, with postdoctoral colleague Mario Molina, the first to warn that chlorofluorocarbons released into the atmosphere were depleting the earth's critical ozone layer. Research on CFCs and stratospheric ozone eventually led in the 1970s to legislation in the United States, Canada and Scandinavia regulating the manufacture and use of chlorofluorocarbons, and in 1987 to the Montreal Protocol of the United Nations Environment Program, the first international agreement for controlling and ameliorating environmental damage to the global atmosphere. The terms of the Montreal Protocol were strengthened in 1992 to attain a complete phaseout of further CFC production by the year 1996. Measurements in the atmosphere have confirmed that CFC emissions on a global scale have essentially stopped.

During 1991-1993 Rowland served successive one-year terms as President-Elect, President, and Chairman of the Board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the publishers of Science Magazine. In 1995, while Foreign Secretary of the National Academy of Sciences, Rowland created, with Professor Prakesh Tandon of India, the International Academy Panel, an organization of the world's National Science Academies, now representing more than 80 individual countries.

Rowland has been investigating the impact of methane gas on the atmosphere since 1978. These studies showed that the atmospheric concentrations increased steadily, averaging about 1% per year from 1978 to 1990, but have slowed during the past dozen years with little growth in the past six years.. The global methane concentration has more than doubled in the past two centuries. Because methane strongly absorbs terrestrial infrared radiation, increases in its concentration contribute to the global "greenhouse effect," the gradual warming of the earth's surface. Over the past century, methane has been second only to carbon dioxide in importance as a "greenhouse gas" in its contribution to global warming.

His research group is now investigating the hydrocarbon and halocarbon composition of the atmosphere both from aircraft and at the surface in remote locations, and in polluted cities such as Santiago, Chile, Karachi, Pakistan, and Mexico City, as well as in the United States. More than 45 scientists have received Ph.D. degrees under his direction, and approximately 80 postdoctoral associates have worked in his laboratory He held faculty positions at Princeton University and the University of Kansas during the period 1952 to 1964.

In 1983, he and Molina received both the Tyler World Prize in Ecology and Energy and the Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology of the American Chemical Society. In 1987, Rowland received the Charles A. Dana Award for Pioneering Achievements in Health, and in 1988, he was made a member of the Global 500, the Honour Role of the United Nations Environment Program. In 1989, he received the Japan Prize in Environmental Science and Technology and in 1994 he received the Albert Einstein Prize of the World Cultural Council. Rowland was awarded the American Chemical Society 1993 Peter Debye Medal in Physical Chemistry, and the 1994 Roger Revelle Medal of the American Geophysical Union He has won the University of California Irvine Medal and has been awarded honorary degrees from eighten institutions, including the University of Chicago, Ohio Wesleyan University, Duke University, Princeton University, Haverford College, Whittier College, Clark University, Gustavus Adolphus College, Carleton College, Occidental College, Ohio State University, Simon Fraser University (Canada), University of Calgary (Canada), East Anglia University (UK), University of Urbino (Italy), Kanazawa University (Japan), LaTrobe University (Australia), and University of Waterloo (Canada). In 1997, he also received the University of Chicago Alumni Medal, its highest non-academic honor. In 2000, he was selected as an honorary member of the Verizon Academic All-American Hall of Fame.

Susan Solomon (USA)

Dr. Susan Solomon was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1956. Although Dr. Solomon has made many contributions to our understanding of atmospheric chemistry, her explanation of the role of polar stratospheric clouds and chlorine chemistry in the Antarctic ozone hole, and her leadership of expeditions to the Antarctic and Arctic to investigate polar ozone depletion established her as an international leader in atmospheric science. Several explanations, both purely meteorological and chemical, were proposed for the mysterious ozone hole soon after its discovery was disclosed in 1985 by Dr. Joseph Farman. Dr. Solomon theorized that ozone depletion was linked to reactions involving chlorine derived from CFCs on polar stratospheric clouds. Her theory about the chemical reaction in the stratosphere involving the formation and reactions of photochemically active chlorine (Cl2) and nitric acid (HNO3) was soon confirmed in the laboratory by Maggie Tolbert and David Golden at Stanford Research Institute and by the research group of Professor Mario Molina.

Dr. Solomon led two scientific expeditions (National Ozone Expeditions I and II) to the Antarctic in 1986 and 1987, where the key ozone depleting chemicals were detected and quantified. She led a successful effort using visible spectroscopy techniques to provide the first measurements of chlorine dioxide. These measurements were among those that proved her theory to be correct. A subsequent expedition led by Solomon to the Arctic in 1988 showed for the first time that the same chlorine-activating reactions can occur over the North Pole, suggesting that in very cold years substantial ozone depletion can occur in the more populated Northern Hemisphere as well.

Dr. Solomon is the author or co-author of over 150 scientific papers and one technical book. Dr. Solomon has worked tirelessly to interpret the science of the ozone hole to government agencies and the public through congressional testimony, serving on numerous national and international committees, and presenting public lectures. Some of her more significant awards include election to the National Academy of Sciences (at the age of only 36), election to the French Academy of Sciences, R&D Magazine Scientist of the Year Blue Planet Prize award of the Asahi Glass Foundation (2004), the American Meteorological Society's Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research medal, and the United States' highest scientific honour, the National Medal of Science in 2000.

Xiaoyan Tang (China)

Professor Xiaoyan Tang was born in Shanghai in 1932. She graduated from the Department of Chemistry of Peking University.

Ms Tang currently serves as a professor of Peking University and academician of National Academy of Engineering of China (since 1995). She is also the Vice President of the Chinese Society of Environmental Sciences. She has been the Co-Chair of the Environmental Effects Panel of the Montreal Protocol since 1992.

As an atmospheric chemist, Professor Tang conducted many pioneered researches in China on ambient air quality, photochemical smog, acid deposition, regional air pollution, and fine particles. She has actively contributed to China's preparation of ratification to the Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol; she was also responsible for the compilation of "The Country Program for Phase-out of ODSs in China". Since 1993 she was the team leader in development of sector plans for ODS phase-out and development of policy and management instruments for implementing the Montreal Protocol. Professor Tang participated in the compilation of Indian, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan Country Programmes as the UNDP and UNEP expert.

Due to her academic and policy support contribution, some of her more significant awards include Gold Award of Ozone Layer Protection Contribution Award of China, by SEPA of China in 2003; Special Gold Award of Ozone Layer Protection Contribution Award of China, by SEPA for the Peking University Team in 2004; and the 2005 Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award by US EPA for the Peking University Team.

Manfred Tevini (Germany)

Professor Dr. Manfred Tevini was born in 1938 in Germany. He carried out his studies in biology and chemistry at the University of Munster from which he graduated in 1968 with a dissertation on plant physiology. From 1969-1970 he worked as a scientific assistant at the Botanical Institute, University of Cologne. In 1972 he obtained the Dr. Habil. degree in botany at the University of Karlsruhe. In 1973, he became a professor of Botany at the University of Karlsruhe where he led an ecology group and worked for over twenty years. His research focus was on Lipid physiology, photobiology, and the effects of enhanced UV-B radiation on plants due to ozone layer depletion. Numerous experts in this field gave their reviews of the issue in the book entitled "UV-B radiation and ozone depletion" edited by Professor Tevini and published in 1993. He and Dr. D.P. Häder also published the textbook "General Photobiology" in Germany and USA.

For several years Professor Tevini was Dean of the Faculty of bio- and geo-sciences in the University of Karlsruhe, Associate Editor of the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology and expert reviewer and consultant in many scientific research panels.

Professor Tevini has served as a Co-chair of UNEP's Environmental Effects Assessment Panel since its inception and he won the UNEP Global Ozone award in 1995. Since 1990, he has been Vice-president of the German Academy for Photobiology and Phototechnology. In 2002 he retired, but is still active in several research programs dealing with environment and health.

Mostafa Kamal Tolba (Egypt)

Dr. Mostafa Tolba was born in the town of Zifta, north of Cairo in 1922. He graduated with first class honours from Cairo University in 1943, and obtained his Ph.D. from the Imperial College, in 1948. He returned to Cairo to eventually become Professor in the Faculty of Science, Cairo University, where he established his own school in microbiology and is currently Emeritus Professor. He was also Professor in Baghdad University, 1954-1959. After this distinguished academic career, Dr Tolba joined the Egyptian civil service as Undersecretary of State for Higher Education and Minister of Youth, and on the international scene, as an alternate member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO's) Executive Board. He became the first president of the newly established Academy for Scientific Research and Technology in 1971. In 1972, he led Egypt's delegation to the Stockholm conference on the Human Environment, thus starting a lifetime commitment to environmental issues. Immediately after Stockholm he was nominated as Deputy Executive Director of the newly established United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). Within 2 years, he became the Executive Director - a post he held until retiring at the end of 1992.
As early as the mid-1970s, he concentrated on the issue of stratospheric ozone layer depletion as meriting careful monitoring on the scientific front. In Vienna (1985), Montreal (1987) and later in London (1990), he managed to formulate the prototype model for dealing with global environmental issues and the effective mechanisms for the transfer of technology and funds to developing countries, as and when necessary, through the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol.

Under his leadership, UNEP became the small core organization within the UN family, acting as the catalyst spurring governments, businesses, academia, IGOs and NGOs, to meaningful action. UNEP, one of the smallest members in the UN family, could leverage on average four times its modest budget to carry out more than a thousand projects. Pursuing his position during Stockholm, he diligently promoted his philosophy of "Development without Destruction". It implications are clearly reflected in his speeches, books and in UNEP's programmes, in many fields, and at many levels.

Dr. Tolba has published over 95 papers on plant diseases, also more than 600 statements and articles on the environment. He has received many awards and prizes, both from academic institutions, governments and NGOs in many countries. These include honorary doctorates, awards, medals, and high decorations. He cherishes in particular the D.Sc. degrees from Moscow State University, and the University of Guadalajara; DLL, Williams College; fellowship of Imperial College, London; the Sasakawa Prize; the Only One Earth Award of the René Dubos Center; the Global Environmental Award (IAIA) in 2003; the Zayed International prize (2003); Global Environment Leadership Award (GEF) in 2003; the Distinguished International Service Award of the Regents of the University of Minnesota; high decorations from Hungary, Jordan, Morocco, Poland, Spain, USA, Yugoslavia, and the First Order Decoration of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Back in Egypt, Dr. Tolba established in 1994 the International Center for Environment and Development (ICED), a non profit organization, financing environmental projects in less developed countries through an endowment fund administered by an independent board of trustees. He is the president of ECOPAST - Centre for Environment and Our Common Past, Washington, D.C.; dealing with the impact of the air pollution on cultural heritage. He is also chairman of the Egyptian Consultants for Environment and Development (ECED). He is also member of many academies, institutes, committees and other organizations.

Robert T.Watson (USA)

Dr. Robert Watson, a citizen of the USA born in the UK, is the World Bank's senior spokesperson on global warming and climate change. He joined the World Bank in May 1996 as senior scientific advisor in the environment department and in July 1997 was appointed Director of the same department and Head of the environment sector Board. In January 2000 he became the Chief Scientist for the World Bank and the Director of Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development. In 2003 he also became Senior Advisor for environmentally and socially sustainable development.

Before coming to the World Bank, Dr. Watson was Associate Director for Environment in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the U.S. President. Prior to joining the Clinton White House, he was Director of the Science Division and Chief Scientist for the Office of Mission to Planet Earth at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Dr. Watson has led several global assessments including the Global Biodiversity Assessment, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the scientific ozone assessments, and he was also Board Co-Chair of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. He has been the Co-Chair of the Scientific Assessment Panel under the Montreal Protocol since its inception. He played a key role in the negotiation of the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol as well as other global environment conventions, and the evolution of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). He chaired the first Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel to the GEF, which is implemented by the World Bank, UNEP and UNDP. He also represented the US Government as a scientific and technical advisor at numerous meetings of the international environmental conventions; in particular on stratospheric ozone depletion and climate change.

Dr. Watson's scientific contribution has been recognized through numerous awards such as: Honorary "Companion of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George" (2003), Honorary Doctor of Science, University of East Anglia, England (2003), Honorary Doctor of Science, UMIST, England (2003), Global Green Award for International Environmental Leadership - US chapter of the Green Cross International formed by Mikhail Gorbachev (2003), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Climate Protection Award (2000), UNEP Award for Protection of the Ozone Layer (1995), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Award for scientific understanding of the ozone layer (1994), Climate Institute Scientific Achievement Award for Coordinating Scientific assessments (1993), American Association for the Advancement of Science Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility (1993), American Meteorological Society Special Award "for notable efforts in organizing and conducting international assessments in ozone depletion and global change" (1993), National Academy of Sciences Award for Scientific Reviewing (1992), American Geophysical Union's Edward A. Flinn, III Award established to recognize individuals who personify the American Geophysical Union's motto of unselfish cooperation in research through their facilitating coordination and implementing activities (first recipient) (1991), Designated member of UNEP's "The UNEP Global 500: The Roll of Honour for Environmental Achievement" (1989), NASA Distinguished Service Medal (1989), and NASA Exceptional Service Medal (1983).