Alumni Spotlight
Dr.
Michael Kurylo '66
Dr. Michael Kurylo
began his scientific career at Boston College earning a Bachelor
of Science degree in 1966, before completing his PhD at Catholic
University just 3 years later. Winner of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s International Ozone Protection Award which recognizes
“outstanding contributions to the protection of the Earth’s stratospheric
ozone” throughout the world, Dr. Kurylo was acknowledged for his
leadership role in many aspects of the examination of the relationship
between stratospheric ozone depletion and manmade chemicals.
In presenting this award, the EPA lauded Dr. Kurylo as “an extraordinary
scientist who was largely responsible for conceiving and executing
airborne stratospheric expeditions that linked CFCs to ozone depletion
in both the Antarctic and Arctic. He is a world-class expert in
photochemistry and kinetics of the stratosphere and upper troposphere
and the impact of changes there on the underlying troposphere
and on global climate. He was a member of the International Ozone
Trends Panel that persuaded DuPont to announce the abandonment
of CFCs, which stimulated the rapid development and implementation
of alternatives. Dr. Kurylo integrated chemistry findings over
the Polar Regions from aircraft-based in situ measurements with
the global pictures of ozone and other atmospheric molecules from
research satellites to forecast the future evolution of ozone
in the stratosphere. This was the basis for predicting how ozone
responds to the decreasing atmospheric levels of halocarbons,
resulting from the implementation of the Montreal Protocol. One
example of the confidence and influence of Dr. Kurylo in persuading
action on stratospheric ozone is the 1994 quote from the Guardian
saying: ‘Everyone should be alarmed about this...Even if CFCs
were phased out at once, it would take until 2060 or 2070 to restore
the ozone layer to health - this legacy will be with us for a
long time.’ Thanks to the research and influence of Dr. Kurylo,
the world is now working to meet that date for ozone layer recovery.”
Currently Dr. Kurylo is a Senior Research Scientist at the Goddard
Earth Sciences and Technology Center of the University of Maryland
Baltimore County. Spending the majority of his career working
at the Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards
and Technology, Dr. Kurylo’s laboratory worked to understand the
outcomes of “ozone-related and climate related trace gases in
the atmosphere.” Moving to NASA in 2004, Dr. Kurylo was program
manager of measurement efforts over the Polar Regions among national
agencies and international participants to “forecast the future
evolution of ozone in the Earth’s stratosphere.”
The EPA award was the latest in a long list of honors Dr. Kurylo
has received in recognition of his exemplary work to preserve
and protect the environment. These commendations have included
numerous NASA Group Achievement Awards, the NASA Exceptional Service
Medal and the William T. Pecora Award as a member of the Total
Ozone Mapping Spectrometer Team. He also has served as one of
this country’s technical reviewers providing review and/or assessments
for the United National Environmental Programme and the World
Meteorological Organization.
Alumni Notes
Rick Farrer PhD
’01 is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Colorado
State University in Pueblo and Leslie Bishop BS ’90;
PhD ’96 is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at
Regis College. Elected to the Board of Directors of the American
Society of Anesthesiologists for a 3-year term, Sean E.
Hunt, MD BS ’74; MS ’76 was recently awarded
a Master of Science in Health Care Management from Harvard University.
Dr. Hunt is the Medical Director of the Dartmouth Ambulatory Surgery
Center in Manchester, NH and an Assistant Professor at Dartmouth
Medical School. His oldest son Christopher is currently an undergraduate
at BC ’12.
Jianhong Hu PhD ’94 is a Senior Staff
Engineer at Motorola Mobile Device. Kenneth Gonsalves
MS ’74 is the Celanese Acetate Distinguished
Professor of Polymer Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry
& Cameron Applied Research Center, University of North Carolina,
Charlotte. Qiang Wang PhD ’08 is an
Associate Professor at Lanzhou University, Gansu, China.
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