WALLACE BROECKER

For more than half a century Wallace S. Broecker’s pioneering climate change research and his legendary reputation as a revered mentor to generations of young scientists has been a magnet attracting top-notch students to Columbia’s world-famous Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.

A prolific researcher, teacher and author, Broecker has published more than 400 scientific articles and is the author of several books. Among his many awards and citations, Broecker was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1979. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the British Royal Society and a fellow of both the American Geophysical Union and the European Geosciences Union. In 1996, President Bill Clinton presented him with the National Medal of Science. In 2007, he was awarded the Crafoord Prize in Geosciences by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences—an honor widely regarded as the discipline’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize. In 2008, Broecker was the recipient of the Balzan Prize for outstanding achievement in science.