Richard P. Turco

Turco is a Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles, and is the Founding Director of UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. Turco earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Physics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, after receiving his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering at Rutgers University. His research has focused on the chemical and microphysical processes that control stratospheric ozone, the global climate system, and regional air pollution. Turco coined the term “nuclear winter” while leading the first collaborative research team that defined the phenomena. His honors include a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, and the Leo Szilard Award for Physics in the Public Interest of the American Physical Society.