Dr. John H. Seinfeld, a chemical engineer who developed the first mathematical models for describing urban air quality and has continued to provide many of the fundamental advances linking atmospheric processes from local pollution formation to global climate change, has been selected to receive the Desert Research Institute's 2001 Nevada Medal.
Seinfeld, Louis E. Nohl Professor and former chair (dean) of the California Institute of Technology's Division of Engineering and Applied Science, will formally receive the minted medallion and $10,000 prize in award ceremonies in Reno March 26 and in Las Vegas March 28. The medalist will present the Nevada Medal Lectures, "Aerosols and Climate," at DRI's conference centers in Reno and Las Vegas in the afternoon before the award ceremonies. The pure silver medallion and prize are underwritten by the shareholders of Nevada Bell.
In 1982, at age 39, Seinfeld was one of the youngest persons ever elected to the National Academy of Engineering. He is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has published more than 400 papers and four critically acclaimed books, including the basic worldwide textbook in atmospheric science, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics: From Air Pollution to Climate Change.
Seinfeld's early focus was on understanding the chemical and physical processes occurring in the polluted urban atmosphere. This work led to his landmark 1972 papers on mathematical models for air pollution. From these came the first urban air quality models incorporated in the Federal Clean Air Act and which today provide the basic tool employed by air quality scientists worldwide.
Seinfeld was one of the first scientists to describe the chemical processes leading to urban ozone, and he has been a leading figure in scientific advances in understanding the formation, growth, and chemistry of aerosols, the microscopic particles and droplets in the air. Seinfeld received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Rochester in 1964 and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering three years later at Princeton University. He joined the faculty of the California Institute of Technology in 1967, and has supervised more than 50 Ph.D. students who have gone on to major research careers in academia and private industry.
He has received numerous national and international awards and honors and served on or chaired many important national and professional commissions focusing on various air quality research challenges.