Michael J. Prather

Biography

Michael J. Prather, Ph.D., is Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Earth System Science Department at the University of California, Irvine. He served as Department Chair from 1994 to 1997, held the Fred Kavli Endowed Chair from 2002 to 2013, and was named UCI Distinguished Professor from 2016 to 2021. Prather also directed the UCI Environment Institute from 2008 to 2013 and served as a Jefferson Science Fellow at the U.S. State Department in 2005-2006. He received his Ph.D. in Astronomy from Yale University in 1976.

Prather's research focuses on atmospheric chemistry and biogeochemical cycles, particularly the composition, transport, and evolution of greenhouse gases and aerosols in the atmosphere. He has developed numerical methods and algorithms for Earth system models, including the widely-used Fast-J photolysis module. His work has examined the lifetimes and time scales of atmospheric species, stratosphere-troposphere exchange, and the chemical coupling of trace gases such as methane and nitrous oxide.

Prather is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (1997), AAAS (2004), and the American Meteorological Society (2024), and a Foreign Member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (1999). He has served in numerous roles for international climate assessments, including as Convening Lead Author for multiple IPCC reports (1994, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2007) and as author or lead author for World Meteorological Organization ozone assessments spanning from 1985 to 2022. He served as Editor-in-Chief of Geophysical Research Letters from 1997 to 2001 and has participated extensively in National Academies committees on atmospheric science and climate. His research has been cited over 40,000 times with an h-index of 95.

Education

• B.S. in Mathematics, Yale University, 1969
• B.A. in Physics, Merton College, Oxford University, 1971
• M.A., Oxford University, 2009
• Ph.D. in Astronomy, Yale University, 1976

Distinctions

• Fellow, American Meteorological Society, 2024
• Fellow, AAAS, 2004
• Foreign Member, Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, 1999
• National Associate of the National Academies, 2002
• Nobel Peace Prize to the IPCC (as Convening, Scoping, Lead Author), 2007
• Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity to the IPCC, 2022
• Vilhelm Bjerknes Medal, European Geoscience Union, 2020
• Haagen-Smit Clean Air Award, 2015
• Jacob Bjerknes Lecturer, AGU, 1996
• Fellow, American Geophysical Union, 1997