Richard Alley – 1976 Scholar

As a high school student in Worthington, Ohio, Richard Alley enjoyed both his English and science classes. Since being named one of Ohio’s Presidential Scholars in 1976, he has combined these loves as a distinguished professor of geosciences at Pennsylvania State University. Alley is one of the world’s leading climate scientists. His renowned research using Greenland ice cores has revolutionized our understanding of abrupt climate change, a subject popularized in the movie “The Day After Tomorrow.” Alley’s acclaimed book on abrupt climate change, “The Two-Mile Time Machine,” won the 2001 Phi Beta Kappa Book Award in Science. He is also the winner of numerous teaching, research and professional awards – most recently, the American Geophysical Union’s 2007 Roger Revelle medal, which recognizes “outstanding contributions in atmospheric sciences … climate, or related aspects of the Earth system.” (Photo taken by PhD student Todd Johnston, Matanuska Glacier, Alaska.)