UCImpact | F. Sherwood Rowland

UC Irvine founding professor F. Sherwood Rowland, who patiently endured years of criticism and then won a Nobel Prize for showing that chlorofluorocarbons from spray cans could destroy the Earth’s ozone layer, died Saturday, March 10, of complications from Parkinson's disease at his home in Corona del Mar. He was 84. He leaves a legacy of courageous research and leadership in atmospheric science.

Rowland died of complications from Parkinson’s disease on Saturday at his home in Corona del Mar. He was 84. (date of birth 6/28/27).

“We have lost our finest friend and mentor,” said UCI physical sciences dean Kenneth C. Janda. “He saved the world from a major catastrophe: never wavering in his commitment to science, truth and humanity, and did so with integrity and grace.”

Nearly 40 years ago, Rowland and post-doctoral student Mario Molina made a shocking discovery: a single chlorine atom byproduct from aerosol hair sprays, deodorants and other popular consumer products could chew up 100,000 ozone atoms in the stratosphere. The stratospheric ozone layer, 12 to 30 miles above Earth, protects life on the planet from dangerous ultra-violet rays.

“Mario and I realized this was not just a scientific question, but a potentially grave environmental problem involving substantial depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer,” Rowland said later. ‘Entire biological systems, including humans, would be at danger from ultra-violet rays.”

UCI loses its legend: F. Sherwood Rowland

UCI lost a fine friend and mentor with the death of F. Sherwood Rowland. “He saved the world from a major catastrophe," said physical sciences dean Kenneth Janda, "never wavering in his commitment to science, truth and humanity, and he did so with integrity and grace.”

A modern Galileo: How F. Sherwood Rowland saved the world

F. Sherwood Rowland says his defining intellectual characteristic is curiosity. In retrospect, the UC Irvine chemist and former baseball star was a natural to win the Nobel Prize.

Breakthrough science: Discovery in Earth's ozone layer

In 2007, UC Irvine's Department of Chemistry was honored by the American Chemical Society for making one of the 10 most important discoveries in chemistry of the 20th century. This Orange County Register report recounts the discovery and how it earned Rowland and his collaborators the 1995 Nobel Prize in chemistry.

Climate change and science policy

F. Sherwood Rowland’s research put UC Irvine in the forefront of climate change science. “We will never look at the world in the same way again,” says colleague Sue Trumbore, professor of Earth system science.