Mario Molina

Mario Molina (1943-2020) was a Mexican chemist awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1995, jointly with Paul Crutzen and F. Sherwood Rowland, for research he and Rowland published in 1974 showing that chlorofluorocarbon compounds, then in widespread industrial and consumer use, could rise into the stratosphere and catalytically destroy the ozone layer that shields Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation. Their findings, initially met with skepticism and industry pushback, were substantiated by the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole in the mid 1980s and helped drive the 1987 Montreal Protocol, the international treaty phasing out ozone depleting chemicals, widely regarded as one of the most successful environmental treaties in history. Molina was the first Mexican born scientist to win a Nobel Prize in a scientific field, and he continued research and advocacy on atmospheric chemistry and climate policy for the rest of his career.