Mario Molina
| Mario J. Molina | |
|---|---|
Mario Molina.
|
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| Born |
March 19, 1943 Mexico City, Mexico |
| Citizenship | Mexican |
| Fields | Chemistry |
| Institutions |
University of California, San Diego University of California, Irvine Jet Propulsion Laboratory Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Alma mater |
National Autonomous University of Mexico Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg University of California, Berkeley |
| Known for | Researched the threat of CFCs to the ozone layer in the stratosphere. |
| Notable awards | Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement (1983) Newcomb Cleveland Prize (1987) NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal (1989), Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1995) UN Environment Programme Sasakawa Environment Prize (1999) The 9th Annual Heinz Award in the Environment (2003), The Volvo Environment Prize (2004). Presidential Medal of Freedom (2013) |
Mario José Molina-Pasquel Henríquez (born March 19, 1943) is a Mexican chemist and one of the most prominent precursors to the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole. In 2004 he became professor at the University of California, San Diego and the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. He was a co-recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his role in elucidating the threat to the Earth's ozone layer of chlorofluorocarbon gases (or CFCs), becoming the first Mexican-born citizen to ever receive a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Molina is a climate policy adviser to President of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto.
Molina is the son of Roberto Molina-Pasquel, a lawyer and judge who went on to serve as chief Ambassador to Ethiopia, Australia and the Philippines in 1923, and Leonor Henríquez. As a child he converted a bathroom into his own little laboratory, using toy microscopes and chemistry sets. He also looked up to his aunt Esther Molina, who was a chemist, and who helped him with his experiments.
After completing his basic studies in Mexico City and at the Institut auf dem Rosenberg in Switzerland he earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in 1965. Two years later he earned his postgraduate degree at the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg, West Germany, and a Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley in 1972. Molina married chemist Luisa Y. Tan in July 1973. They moved to Irvine, California that fall.
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