A professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Solomon is best known for her 1986 expedition to Antarctica’s McMurdo Station. Her team provided the first direct measurements proving that chlorofluorocarbons were responsible for the widening ozone hole, findings that served as the scientific bedrock for the Montreal Protocol. Her work on heterogeneous chemical reactions—explaining how polar stratospheric clouds accelerate ozone destruction—remains a cornerstone of environmental science.

Beyond her chemical research, Solomon has been a central figure in global climate governance. As a co-lead of the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report, she helped synthesize data that influenced the 2015 Paris Agreement. Her 2009 study on the long-term irreversibility of CO₂ emissions further crystallized the urgency of global mitigation efforts. Solomon’s career, which includes three decades at NOAA, is now marked by this latest honor, arriving exactly forty years after her initial Antarctic expeditions.