El diecinueve de marzo/March 19th

¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Mario Molina! (1943-      )

Photo from the UN Environment video
highlighting Molina's work when he
was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award
from them. Click HERE for video (in English). 

A Mexican chemist who won a Nobel Prize in 1995 for his role in elucidating the threat of CFCs to the Earth's ozone layer, Molina has more than 30 honorary degrees from universities around the world, including Yale, Harvard, Tufts, and Duke. In addition to his Nobel Prize, he has won many prestigious awards and even has an asteroid, Asteroid 9680 Molina, named after him. In 2013 he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama, and he is currently the climate policy advisor to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto. Molina was born in Mexico City and attended UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico) before furthering his studies in Germany and then receiving his PHD from the University of Berkeley, California, in 1972. In 2004, Molina became a professor at the University of California, San Diego and the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. He has been married to chemist Luisa Tan since 1973. See #10cosas: Mario Molina, Nobel de Química en 1995 (#10things: Mario Molina, Chemistry Nobel Prize Winner in 1995), produced by the Pontifical Catholic University of Perú, HERE, for a general overview of his life (in Spanish), or watch him interviewed on Jorge Ramos' show Al Punto, where he talks about the importance of governments around the world recognizing climate change and taking action, HERE.

For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Other March 19th events:

Last day of Las Fallas in Valencia, Spain (the four days leading up to March 19th), a traditional celebration held in commemoration of St. Joseph in which giant puppets or dolls with a satirical theme are burned.