Azadeh Tabazadeh is one of Iran’s and also world’s most influential senior research scientist at NASA Ames Research Center and winner of Popular Science Brilliant 10 award in 2002, and holder of PH. D. in Physical Chemistry from university of California Los Angeles in the field of Earth Science.
Azadeh Tabazadeh was born in Iran and grew up in Tehran and became interested in science at age 7, when an uncle gave her a chemistry set as a present. When she was 17, she left Iran with her brother, followed by other family members.
Currently on leave from NASA, she is a visiting professor at Stanford university, where her husband Mark Jacobson is an associate professor of engineering. The two are collaborating on a project that’s probing the likely atmospheric impact of a broad-scale switch from fossil fuels to hydrogen. The results, she hopes, will provide society with the information it needs to make rational decisions about global warming.
Education
- 1987 at age 20 – B.S. in Chemistry (highest honors) university of California Los Angeles
- 1988 at age 21 – Research Assistant, Dept. of Chemistry, University of California, Los Angeles
- 1990 at age 23 – M.S. in Chemistry University of California, Los Angeles
- 1991 at age 24 – Research Assistant, Dept. of Atmospheric Science, UCLA
- 1992 at age 25 – Teaching Assistant, Dept. of Atmospheric Science, UCLA
- 1994 at age 27 – Postdoctoral Fellow, NASA Ames Research Center
- 1994 at age 27 – Ph. D. in Physical Chemistry University of California, Los Angeles
- 1997 at age 30 – Research Scientist, Earth Science, NASA Ames Research Center
- 2002 at age 35 – Senior Research Scientist, NASA Ames Research Center
- 2005 at age 38 – Associate Professor Standford University – Environmental Engineering,
- 2005 at present: Associate Consulting Professor of Geophysics
Tabazadeh ’s works have been revolutionary in the fields of geophysics, physical chemistry, and atmospheric science. She has written numerous research papers as the principal investigator, all of which have been published in prestigious science journals. In the cover story of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (2002,No.99).
Professor Tabazadeh presented for the first time the results of her research on the correlation between volcanic activity and the ozone hole, namely that if a period of high volcanic activity on Earth coincides with a series of cold winters in the Arctic,t hen a springtime Arctic ozone hole may reappear for a number of consecutive years.Her most recent work on the connection between ozone depletion and global warming is challenging widely held views in stratospheric science.
Professor Tabazadeh is recipient of many awards including the American Geophysics Union ’s medal in 2001. She was the 1999 recipient of the “Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers. (This is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in their early career.)
In the citation of this award, Tabazadeh is recognized for her pioneering development of theoretical techniques to simulate the formation of chemically and climatically important aerosol particles in the Earth ’s atmosphere. Tabazadeh works with a broad array of scientists,universities and scientific organizations such as UCLA, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Max Plank Institute, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Tabazadeh is married to Dr.Mark Jacobson who is also a distinguished NASA scientist.They have two children, Dionna and Daniel.
HONORS AND AWARDS:
- 2005 Research Featured in Time Magazine’s Innovator Series (Jan. 10 issue)
- 2004-2005 Shimuzu Visiting Fellowship (Dept. of CEE, Stanford University)
- 2003 Henry G. Houghton Award, American Meteorological Society (AMS)
- 2003 Discoveries and Breakthroughs Inside Science (DBIS) Paper Recognition,
- 2003 American Institute of Physics (paper: PNAS, 99, 15873, 2002)
- 1999-2003 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)
- 2002 Research Featured in Popular Science Magazine (Nov. issue)
- 2001 Fellow, American Geophsyical Union
- 2001 Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, NASA
- 2001 James B. Macelwane Medal, American Geophysical Union
- 1994-1997 National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship
- 1996 Excellence in Refereeing for Geophysical Research Letters, Editor’s Citation
- 1991-1994 Global Change Graduate Fellowship, NASA
- 1987 Merck Index Award, Undergraduate Chemistry Research
- 1985-1987 Dean’s Distinguished Honors List, UCLA
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
2007-Present Visiting Review Committee, EAPS Dept, MIT
2006-Present Committee Member, James B. Macelwane Medal , AGU
2006-Present Committee Member, Atmospheric Research Awards, AMS
2007 Inaugural Lecturer, Sr. Mary Thompson lectureship, St. Catherine College, MN
2007 Senior Review Panel, Earth Science Opertaing Missions, NASA
2007 Invited Speaker, Women in Engineering Seminar Series, Stanford
2007 Seminar Speaker, Dept. of Atmospheric Science, UCLA
2007 Colloquium Speaker, Lockheed Martin
2007 Colloquium Speaker, USGS Western Region
2007 NAS Panel Review Member, CCSP Report
2007 External Thesis Committee Member (Reader), University of Waterloo
2007 Keynote Speaker, Educating Women for a World in Crises Summit, New Orleans
2006 Session Chair, American Chemical Society (SF, CA)
2006 Invited, Aviation/Climate Workshop (sponsored by FAA)
2006 Invited Speaker, Society of Iranian Professionals, Santa Clara County
2006 Invited Speaker, The End of Oil Public Lecture Series, Stanford
2006 Invited Speaker, Applied Physics Dept., Stanford
2006 Invited Speaker, Chemistry Dept., UC Irvine
2006 Invited Speaker, Managing Solar Radiation, NASA-Ames/Carnegie-DOE Workshop
2006 Invited Speaker, Atmospheric Chemistry Workshop (Telluride, CO)
2005 Invited Speaker, Cupertino Rotary Club (Ozone Hole and Global Warming)
2005 Invited Speaker, NRC Directorate, NASA
2004 Invited Speaker, CEE Dept., Stanford University
2004 Distinguished Lecturer, EAPS Dept., MIT
2004 Invited Speaker, San Jose Rotary Club (The Science of Global Warming)
2004 Invited Speaker, GES Dept., Stanford University
2002-2004 Committee Member, James B. Macelwane Medal , AGU
2002-2004 Committee Member, Middle Atmosphere, AMS
2000-2004 Mentor, Job Shadow Program, Bay Area High Schools
2003 Invited Speaker, IUGG, Sapparo, Japan
2003 Invited Speaker, ACS National Chemistry Week, Santa Clara Section
2003 Invited Speaker, Physics Dept., Michigan Technological University
2003 Invited Public Lecture (500+ audience), Global Warming, Flint Center, Cupertino
2003 Invited Speaker, CEE Dept., Stanford University
2003 Invited Speaker, Max Planck Institute, Mainz, Germany
2001-2003 Sciene Team Member, Crystal-Face Field Project, NASA
2002 Invited Speaker, The 87th Statistical Mechanics Conference, Rutgers University
2002 Invited Speaker, Physics Dept., SJ state University
2002 Invited Speaker, Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry Dept., UC Davis
2002 Keynote Speaker, HIAPER Project, NSF (Boulder, CO)
2002 Invited, Education Section, AGU
2002 Invited Speaker, Union Section, AGU
2002 Invited Speaker, EPS Dept., UC Berkeley
2002 Organizer, Special Section on Aerosols, AGU
2000-2002 Associate Editor, Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmosphere, AGU
1997-2002 Sciene Team Member, Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, NASA
2001 Co-author (Ch. 3), International Assessment Report on Ozone Depletion, WMO
2001 Invited Speaker, Chemistry and Biochemistry Dept., UCLA
2001 Invited Speaker, Atmospheric Chemistry Gordon Conference
2000 Invited Speaker, SLAC, Stanford University
1999 Invited Speaker, Atmospheric Section, AGU
1999 Satellite Validation Panel Member, NASA (Snowmass, CO)
1999 Invited, Frontiers of Science Symposium, National Academy of Sciences
1999 Invited Speaker, Chemistry and Biochemistry Dept., UC Berkeley
1996-1999 Organizer, Earth Science Seminar Series, NASA Ames Res. Center
1998 Peer Review Panel Member, NASA
1996-1998 Science Team Member, SUCCESS Aircraft Field Project, NASA
1997 Peer Review Panel Member, NASA
1997 Organizer, Special Section on Aerosols, AGU
1996 NASA Group Achievement Awards, UARS Science Team
1996 Invited Speaker, Environ. Section, ACS
1995 Invited Speaker, CEE Dept., Stanford University
1995 Invited Speaker, Atmospheric Chemistry Gordon Conference