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Gilbert Butler Professor of Environmental Studies, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Harvard University
Professor McElroy studies changes in the composition of the atmosphere with an emphasis on the impact of human activity. He has spent a significant amount of energy addressing challenges for public policy posed by the rapid pace of industrialization in developing countries such as China and India while exploring alternative strategies for more sustainable development in mature economies such as the United States.
Professor McElroy earned his B.A. in Applied Mathematics and his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Queens University in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He has been a Professor at Harvard University since 1970, the Chairman of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University since 1986, and the Chairman of the Harvard University Center for the Environment since 1991. He has worked as the Director of Harvard's Center for Earth and Planetary Physics and as a physicist for the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson Arizona from 1963-1970. In 1977 he was the Co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Atmospheric and Environmental Research Inc, of which he is still the Director today. Professor McElroy is also on the Space Program Advisory Panel, the Environmental Task Force, and is a member of numerous committees associated with the National Academy of Sciences and NASA.
Professor McElroy is the recipient of the James B. Macelwane Award by the American Geophysical Union for "outstanding contributions in the field of planetary atmospheres," the American Association for the Advancement of Science "Newcomb Cleveland Prize" (awarded collectively to all the participants in the Viking mission), the NASA Public Service Medal, the Eire Society Gold Medal Award, and in 1989 he received Harvard University's George Ledlie Prize being described as the scholar who "since the last awarding of said prize, has by research, discovery, or otherwise made the most valuable contribution to science, or in any way for the benefit of mankind."