Sean Solomon | |
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| Born | Sean Carl Solomon (1945-10-24)October 24, 1945 (age 80) |
| Alma mater | California Institute of Technology (BS) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD) |
| Known for | Science lead forMESSENGER and director of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at theCarnegie Institution for Science |
| Awards | G. K. Gilbert Award,Arthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship,National Medal of Science (2012) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Planetary science Geophysics |
| Institutions | Columbia University Carnegie Institution |
| Doctoral advisor | M. Nafi Toksöz |
Sean Carl Solomon (born October 24, 1945) is the director of theLamont–Doherty Earth Observatory ofColumbia University, where he is also the William B. RansfordProfessor of Earth and Planetary Science.[1] Before moving to Columbia in 2012, he was the director of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at theCarnegie Institution inWashington, D.C. His research area is ingeophysics, including the fields of planetary geology, seismology, marine geophysics, and geodynamics.[2] Solomon is theprincipal investigator on theNASAMESSENGER mission toMercury.[3] He is also a team member on theGravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory mission and the Plume-Lithosphere Undersea Melt Experiment (PLUME).
Solomon was born inLos Angeles,California on October 24, 1945.[4]
Solomon received hisB.S. from theCalifornia Institute of Technology, and hisPh.D. in geophysics from theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1971.
From 1972 through 1992 he was an assistant, associate, and full professor at MIT. For the next 20 years he was Director of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of theCarnegie Institution of Washington. He assumed his current positions at Columbia in 2012. Solomon has served as Principal Investigator for the Carnegie Institution's part of theNASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) and member of the Earth Institute External Advisory Board atColumbia University.[5] He has been a member of theMagellan Project Science Team, Radar Investigation Group[6] and theMars Orbiter Laser Altimeter Team. He has been on numerous oceanographic expeditions. Solomon continues to serve on committees.
Solomon is the recipient of the 1999G. K. Gilbert Award from theGeological Society of America and theArthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship from the National Academy of Sciences also in 1999. He was president of theAmerican Geophysical Union from 1996 to 1998. In 2005, Solomon was awarded the Harry H. Hess Medal by the American Geophysical Union.[7] The medal is given for outstanding achievements on research on the evolution of Earth and other planets. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the California Institute of Technology in 2006.[8] He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1995.[9] In 2012, he was named a National Medal of Science laureate.[10] In 2014, President Barack Obama presented Solomon with the National Medal of Science.[11]
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