Nevada Will Honor UCI Nobel Winner
UC Irvine professor F. Sherwood Rowland, the scientist who received the 1995 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his discovery of chemical processes attacking Earth’s ozone layer, will be awarded the 1997 Nevada Medal by Nevada Gov. Bob Miller.
Rowland, the Bren Research Professor of Chemistry at UCI, will be the 10th recipient of the medallion, made of 8 ounces of Nevada silver. He is being honored for discovering that chlorofluorocarbons are destroying the thin layer of stratospheric ozone that filters the sun’s harmful rays.
His research led to an international effort to eliminate ozone-depleting chemicals from common household substances such as aerosol propellants and air-conditioning and refrigeration fluids.
Rowland agreed to accept the Nevada Medal in 1995, one month before he learned he had been selected as a Nobel winner. The professor will be honored at dinners March 17 in Reno and March 19 in Las Vegas. In addition to the medal, he will receive a $5,000 check.
