Frank Sherwood Rowland (1927 – )
American atmospheric chemist

Rowland was born in the central Ohio city of Delaware. After a brief period of service in the United States Navy, he attended Ohio Wesleyan University where he earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1948. He balanced his semi-professional baseball career with his studies and continued his education in chemistry, earning master's and doctorate degrees at the University of Chicago in 1951 and 1952, respectively. Fresh out of school, Rowland pursued a career in education and research. He taught chemistry at Princeton University from 1952 to 1956 and the University of Kansas between 1963 and 1964.

Rowland has conducted research in many areas of the chemical and radiochemical fields. In 1971, for example, to calm an alarmed public, Rowland and a team of scientists investigated the seemingly high levels of mercury being found in tuna and swordfish . They tested the tissues of museum exhibit, century-old fish and found the levels of the dangerous substance were in about the same range as those recently pulled from the water, and therefore proved the fish were not a health threat. In addition to this type of testing, he completed work for such organizations as the International Atomic Energy Administration and the United States Atomic Energy Commission . Rowland is probably best known, however, for his work in atmospheric and chemical kinetics and especially his investigations of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

Inert and versatile compounds, CFCs were most often found in items like cooling devices and aerosol cans; CFCs are also found throughout the atmosphere . The inherent dangers of CFCs were unknown until Rowland teamed up with University of California associate Mario Molina in 1973 and found that certain atoms of those CFCs present in the atmosphere were combining with the ozone , causing rapid depletion of the protective ozone layer itself. Such destruction could result in drastic climatic changes, as well as increased atmospheric penetration by the sun's rays (causing a huge upswing of the occurrence of skin cancer ).

Initially, Rowland's and Molina's theory was not readily accepted. In recent years however, the theory has come be accepted as an unpleasant fact; the importance of CFC elimination has been realized. Major industries are taking steps to address the CFC problem. Du Pont for example, a major developer and manufacturer of CFCs, has pledged to reduce its production of the compounds. The 1995 Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to Rowland, Molina, and Paul Crutzen.

Rowland is currently the chemistry department chairman at the University of California at Irvine, where he has been a faculty member since 1964. He maintains membership in numerous organizations, among them: the Ozone Commission of the International Association of Meteorological and Atmospheric Physics; Committee of Atmospheric Chemical and Global Pollution ; and various committees of the United States National Academy of Science.

[Kimberley A. Peterson ]

RESOURCES

PERIODICALS

Edelson, E. "The Man Who Knew Too Much." Popular Science 234 (January 1989): 60–65, 102.

Moreau, D. "Change Agents." Changing Times (January 1990): 99.

Rowland, F. S. "Chlorofluorocarbons and the Depletion of Stratospheric Ozone." American Scientist 77 (1989): 36–45.