As announced last summer, Sean Solomon will be concluding his term as director of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) on June 30, 2020. He will remain as an adjunct senior research scientist. Maureen “Mo” Raymo has agreed to serve as interim director of LDEO and G. Unger Vetlesen Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, as of July 1.
Raymo is a world-renowned marine geologist and climate scientist whose work focuses on the history and causes of past climate change. She received her PhD from Columbia University in 1989 and returned to Columbia in 2011. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2014, Raymo was awarded the highly prestigious Wollaston Medal from the Geological Society of London, and, last year, she received the Maurice Ewing Medal from the American Geophysical Union—the highest honor in marine geosciences—named after the founder of LDEO.
“Raymo brings to this interim role a broad and deep understanding of Lamont as an institution and a remarkable commitment to excellence in research and education,” said University President Lee Bollinger in an email to the Columbia community. “We are delighted that she has agreed to take on this University assignment.”
