Michael McElroy

Michael McElroy "is Gilbert Butler Professor of Environmental Studies at Harvard University. He received his elementary and graduate education from Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland and spent a postdoctoral year in the Chemistry Department at the University of Wisconsin. He was Director of the Harvard University Center for the Environment (2001–2004) where he lead an interdisciplinary study on the implications of China’s rapid industrial development for the local, regional, and global environment; Chairman of the University Committee on Environment at Harvard (1991–2001); Chairman of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (1986–2000); Director of the Center for Earth and Planetary Physics (1975); named Abbott Lawrence Rotch Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at Harvard University (1970); and appointed staff scientist at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson, Arizona (1963). He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the International Academy of Aeronautics, the American Geophysical Union, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

"Queen’s University of Belfast honored him with the award of an honorary degree of Doctor of Science in 1991. In 1989 he was awarded the George Ledlie Prize at Harvard University for the person who “since the last award of said prize, has by research, discovery, or otherwise made the most valuable contribution to science, or in any way for the benefit of mankind,” he received the Research and Development Award from the National Energy Resources Organization, and was the recipient of the Eire Society Gold Medal in 1987, the NASA Public Service Medal in 1978, and the Macelwane Award of the American Geophysical Union in 1968.

"McElroy’s research interests range from studies on the origin and evolution of the planets to, more recently, an emphasis on effects of human activity on the global environment of the Earth. He is the author of more than 200 technical papers contributing to our understanding of human induced changes in stratospheric ozone and to the potential for serious disruptions to global and regional climate due to anthropogenically related emissions of greenhouse gases."

• Director, Climate Institute (US)
• Steering Committee, Forum on Religion and Ecology