| Dr. Mario J. Molina |
| Dr. Mario J. Molina was born on March 19, 1943 in Mexico City. He was born to Leonor Henriquez de Molina and Molina Pasquel. Mario's farther was a lawyer and he also taught at the National University of Mexico. Mario was interested in chemisty before he even entered high school. He used to perform science experiments in a family bathroom, that he made into his own laboratory. Mario's aunt, Esther Molina, who was a chemist, would help him carry out difficult experiments in his laboratory. Mario was sent to a boarding school in Switzerland for a couple years, when he was 11 years old, he thought that the kids over there would be more interested in chemistry. But he found out that they were just like the children that he went to school with in Mexico City. They didn't really have any interest in chemistry. Later in 1960 Mario attended The National University of Mexico and enrolled in the chemical engineering program. Mario continued his education to recieve a Ph.D. degree in chemistry, but this wasn't easy for him to do because he was weak in mathematics, physics, and various areas of basic physical chemistry. Then Mario decided to attend a graduate program in the United States, in 1968 he started to attend The University of California at Berkeley. He took classes that he had trouble with such as physics, mathmatics, and physical chemistry. In 1972 Mario completed his Ph.D. degree, but he stayed at Berkeley to continue research on chemical dynamics. He joined Prof. F. Sherwood Rowland and moved to Irvine California in 1973 . He then married Luisa in July of that year. Three months after he moved to Irvine Sherwood and him developed the "CFC-ozone depletion theory". They realized that the chlorine atoms produced by the decompositioin of the CFCs would destroy the ozone. Sherwood and Mario were amazed to find out that industrial amounts of CFCs released would amount to the depletion of the ozone layer. They shared their information with other chemistists who had been working on the same experiment. They published what that had discovered in the June, 1974 issue of 'Nature'. Mario and Sherwood also brought their information to news media, other chemistists, and policy makers. They did this because it was the only way their information could get to the people. They hoped people would take some measures to stop the depletion of the ozone. Mario and Luisa had a son in 1977, Felipe. Luisa had been working with Mario before Filipe was born, but when he was born she only worked part time with Mario. Luisa had been very understanding for Mario's experiments and helped him throughout them. He then joined a smaller group in 1982, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. They performed laboratory stimulations of what was happening with the ozone depletion. What they did was very important because it provided an explanation of the rapid loss of the ozone. In 1989 Mario moved to Massachusett's Institute of Technology where he continued research. In 1995 Mario received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Mario shared the Nobel Prize with Sherwood and another chemist, Paul Crutzen. In 1998 he was named one of the top 20 Hispanics in Technology. * www.nobel.se/chemistry/laureates/1995/molina-autobio.html * www.atomicmuseum.com/tour/sc2.cfm |
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