Solomon was born in Los Angeles, California on October 24, 1945.
Solomon received his Bachelor of Surgery from the California Institute of Technology, and his Doctor of Philosophy in geophysics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in 1971.
Before moving to Columbia in 2012, he was the director of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institute in Washington, District of Columbia His research area is in geophysics, including the fields of planetary geology, seismology, marine geophysics, and geodynamics. Solomon is the principal investigator on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration MESSENGER mission to Mercury. He is also a team member on the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory mission and the Plume-Lithosphere Undersea Melt Experiment (PLUME).
From 1972 through 1992 he was an assistant, associate, and full professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Foreign the next 20 years he was Director of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
He assumed his current positions at Columbia in 2012. He has been on numerous oceanographic expeditions.
Solomon continues to serve on committees.
Solomon is the recipient of the 1999 G. K. Gilbert Award from the Geological Society of America and the Arthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship from the National Academy of Sciences also in 1999. He was president of the American Geophysical Union from 1996 to 1998. In 2005, Solomon was awarded the Harry H. Hess Medal by the American Geophysical Union. The medal is given for outstanding achievements on research on the evolution of Earth and other planets. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the California Institute of Technology in 2006. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1995. In 2014, he received the National Medal of Science.
National Academy of Sciences]
Solomon has served as Principal Investigator for the Carnegie Institute"s part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Astrobiology Institute (NAI) and member of the Earth Institute External Advisory Board at Columbia University. He has been a member of the Magellan Project Science Team, Radar Investigation Group and the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter Team.
