Paul J. Crutzen

Curriculum Vitae

The following is the curriculum vitae of Paul Josef Crutzen, born 3 December, 1933, in Amsterdam, Holland, Director at the Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany. He is married, with two children.

Education

High School: 1946-1951, Amsterdam, Holland.
Civil Engineering, 1951-1954, Amsterdam, Holland.
Academic Studies and Research Activities 1959-1973 at the University of Stockholm
M.Sc. (Filosofie Kandidat), 1963.
Ph.D. (Filosofie Licentiat), Meteorology, 1968,
Title: “Determination of parameters appearing in the ‘dry’ and the ‘wet’ photochemical theories for ozone in the stratosphere”, Examiner: Prof. Dr. Bert Bolin, Stockholm.
D.Sc. (Filosofie Doctor), 1973, Stockholm, Sweden,
Title: “On the photochemistry of ozone in the stratosphere and troposphere and pollution of the stratosphere by high-flying aircraft”, Promoters: Prof. Dr. John Houghton, FRS, Oxford, and Dr. R.P. Wayne, Oxford.
(Ph.D. and D.Sc. degrees were given with the highest possible distinctions).

Employment

1954-1958: Bridge Construction Bureau of the City of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
1956-1958: Military Service, The Netherlands.
1958-1959: House Construction Bureau (HKB), Gävle, Sweden.
1959-1974: Various computer consulting, teaching and research positions at the department of Meteorology of the University of Stockholm, Sweden, Latest positions: Research Associate and Research Professor.
1969-1971: Post-doctoral fellow of the European Space Research Organization at the Clarendon Laboratory of the University of Oxford, England.
1974-1977:

1) Research Scientist in the Upper Atmosphere Project, National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, Colorado, USA.

2) Consultant at the Aeronomy Laboratory, Environmental Research Laboratories, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, Colorado, USA.

1977-July 1980: Senior Scientist and Director of the Air Quality Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, Colorado, USA.
1976-1981: Adjunct professor at the Atmospheric Sciences Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado.
Since 1980: Member of the Max-Planck-Society for the Advancement of Science and Director of the Atmospheric Chemistry Division, Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, West Germany.
1983-1985: Executive Director, Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, West Germany.
1987-1991: Professor (part-time) at the Department of Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, USA.
Since 1992: Professor (part-time), Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, LaJolla, USA.
Since 1993: Honorary Professor at the University of Mainz, Germany.

Other functions

Member of the International Ozone Commission and of the International Commission of the Upper Atmosphere of IAMAP (International Association for Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics) (1974-1984).

Member of NASA Stratospheric Research Advisory Committee (1975-1977).

Member, Atmospheric Sciences Advisory Committee, National Foundation (1977-1979).

Member, Committee of Atmospheric Sciences (CAS), National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A. (1978-1980).

Member, Advisory Committee, High Altitude Pollution Program, Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), U.S.A. (1978-1982).

Member, Commission of Air Chemistry and Global Air Pollution (CACGP) of the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics (IAMAP) (1979-1990).

Member of Special Inter-Ministerial Advisory Commission on Forest Damage in the Federal Republic of Germany (1983-1987).

Member, Commission of the Parliament of the F.R.G. for the “Protection of the Earth’s Atmosphere” (Enquete-Kommission zum Schutz der Erdatmosphäre) (1987-1990).

Member (present and past) of various research advisory committees of the German Science Foundation (DFG) and Ministry of Research and Technology (BMFT) of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Member of Steering Committees of the SCOPE/ICSU effort to estimate the environmental consequences of a nuclear war (SC OPE/ENUWAR) (1984-1988).

Member of the Kuratorium (Board of Trustees) of the Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, Hamburg (1984-present).

Member, Executive Board of SCOPE (Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment) of the International Council of Scientific Unions and Chairman of the National SCOPE Committee of the FRG (1986-1989).

Member of Special Committee and Executive Committee, and Chairman of Coordinating Panel I of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) (1986-1990).

Chairman of the Steering Committee of the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) Programme, a Core Project of the IGBP (1987-1990); Vice-Chairman (1990-1996).

Chairman of the European IGAC Project Office (1992-1996).

Member of the Kuratorium (Board of Trustees) of the Fraunhofer-Institut für atmosphärische Umweltforschung, Garmisch-Partenkirchen (19871994); Chairman (1992-1994).

Editor “Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry”.

Member, Editorial Board “Tellus”.

Member, Editorial Board “Climate Dynamics”.

Member Editorial Advisory Board “Issues in Environmental Science and Technology”, Royal Society of Chemistry, Britain.

Member of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, University Utrecht, Netherlands (1993-present).

Reviewing Editor “Science” (1993-present).

Member of the Advisory Council of the Volvo Environment Prize (1993-present) .

Member of STAP (Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel) Roster of Experts of the United Nations Environment Programme (1993-present).

Member of the European Environmental Research Organisation (EERO) (1993-present).

Member of the Prix Lemaitre Committee (1994-present).

Member of the Steering Committee on Global Environmental Change of International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria (1994-present).

Member of the SPINOZA Prize Committee of Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (Dutch Organization for Scientific Research) (1994-1995).

Member of the Scientific Advisory Group of the School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Britain (1995-)

Member, Executive Board of Gesellschaft Deutscher Naturforscher und Ärzte (GDNÄ, German Society of Natural Scientists and Physicians) (1995present).

Awards and honours

1969-1971 Visiting Fellow of St. Cross College, Oxford, England.
1976 Outstanding Publication Award, Environmental Research Laboratories, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.
1977 Special Achievement Award, Environmental Research Laboratories, NOAA, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.
1984 Rolex-Discover Scientist of the Year.
1985 Recipient of the Leo Szilard Award for “Physics in the Public Interest” of the American Physical Society.
1986

Elected to Fellow of the American Geophysical Union.

Honorary Doctoral Degree, York University, Canada.

Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Cambridge, U.S.A.

1987 Lindsay Memorial Lecturer, Goddard Space Flight Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
1988 Founding Member of Academia Europaea.
1989 Recipient of the Tyler Prize for the Environment.
1990

Tracy and Ruth Scorer Lecturer at the University of California, Davis, U.S.A.

Corresponding Member of The Royal Netherlands Academy of Science.

1991 Recipient of the Volvo Environmental Prize.
1992

Honorary Doctoral Degree, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.

Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering.

Member Leopoldina, Halle.

1993 Ida Beam Visiting Professor, The University of Iowa, U.S.A.
1994

Raymond and Beverly Sackler Distinguished Lecturer in Geophysics and Planetary Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Israel.

Recipient of the Deutscher Umweltpreis of the Umweltstiftung (German Environmental Prize of the Federal Foundation for the Environment).

Foreign Associate of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

Honorary Doctoral Degree, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, U.K.

Recipient of the Max-Planck-Forschungspreis (with Dr. M. Molina, U.S.A.).

1995

Recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (with Dr. M. Molina and Dr. F.S. Rowland, U.S.A.).

Recipient of United Nations Environment Ozone Awards for Outstanding Contribution for the Protection of the Ozone Layer.

Publications

Over 170 refereed and 50 other research publications in specialist publications, 4 books (co-authored), 4 books (edited).

Main research interest

Atmospheric chemistry and its role in biogeochemical cycles and climate.

From Les Prix Nobel. The Nobel Prizes 1995, Editor Tore Frängsmyr, [Nobel Foundation], Stockholm, 1996

This CV was written at the time of the award and later published in the book series Les Prix Nobel/Nobel Lectures. The information is sometimes updated with an addendum submitted by the Laureate. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.

Paul Crutzen died on 28 January 2021.

Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 1995

To cite this section
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