Susan Solomon is a prominent American scientist who has won no fewer than 25 major awards and medals for her vital work on climate change. She has long been regarded as one of the most important female scientists in the world, and she was once rated as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine. In scientific circles, she is best known for her research into the ozone layer — she and her colleagues were the first to propose that the Antarctic ozone hole was caused by chlorofluorocarbon free radical reaction mechanism. For many years, she headed the Chemistry and Climate Processes Group of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Chemical Sciences Division, but for over a decade now she has been Ellen Swallow Richards Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry & Climate Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She also sits on the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.

Solomon’s interest in science is lifelong — she came third in a national science competition during high school — and she studied chemistry at the Illinois Institute of Technology and the University of California in Berkeley. Her investigations into the ozone hole saw her lead two expeditions to Antarctica (the only woman on the team and its sole leader), and her findings formed the basis of a UN protocol to help protect the ozone layer from further harm. For this vital work, she is still receiving awards, including the 2021 Future of Life Award. She is also heavily involved with the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change.