The 39th W. Allan Powell Lectureship in Chemistry
Friday, March 27, 2026
The Jepson Alumni Center
University of Richmond
The Antarctic Ozone Hole: A Global Success Story of Science and Policy
The discovery of a massive hole in the Antarctic ozone layer shocked the world in 1985, leading to remarkable changes in science, public understanding, and environmental policy. In this talk, I will summarize how scientific discoveries revealed the chemistry that can deplete the Earth’s ozone layer, our planet’s essential “sunscreen” against damaging ultraviolet light from the sun. I will also describe how the world came together in an international process that has now effectively phased out the production of ozone-depleting chemicals. Finally, I will discuss some of the evidence that the ozone layer is slowly beginning to heal.
Dinner will begin at approximately 6:00 pm
Lecture will follow approximately 7:15 pm
Dinner reservations are required and dinner seating (as our guest!) is limited.
Please send your request to Pat Coleman (pcoleman@richmond.edu) (your name & affiliation) as soon as possible. A confirmation will follow
Biography Susan Solomon is the Martin Professor of Environmental Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is well known for pioneering research on the Antarctic ozone hole, as well as on climate change in the southern hemisphere. She received the 1999 US National Medal of Science, the Crafoord Prize of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Blue Planet Prize, and the Volvo prize. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the French Academy of Sciences, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and the Royal Society in the UK. Time magazine named Solomon as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2008. And her favorite honor is a glacier in the Antarctic that has been named after her.