Allan Lewis Lazrus

Allan Lewis Lazrus died tranquilly at dawn on Monday 27 November just as first light illuminated Pikes Peak and the full moon slowly sank behind the Front Range. Allan was born in New York City on 6 February 1933, and was raised in Yonkers and Scarsdale, New York, before graduating from Cornell University. His dream was to head west for graduate study within the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. Allan’s arrival coincided with an era of artistic bohemianism flourishing in Boulder in the late Fifties and Sixties. This was a time of creative expansion and spiritual exploration as well as the appearance of leaders in technology, such as, IBM.

As a research chemist in the Atmospheric Quality Division (AQD), Allan Lazrus joined the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) close to the time of its inception in the early Sixties. Throughout his career, Allan’s research projects underscored founder of NCAR, Walter Orr Roberts’ vision of creating a “research program of the highest quality, dedicated to the common goal of progress of the atmospheric sciences.” Collaborating with a consortium of academic institutions, Allan managed the National Precipitation Network and participated in the Climatic Impact Assessment Program, which yielded many first measurements of trace chemicals in the stratosphere. Data collected by Allan and his laboratory also measured lead in the atmosphere, resulting in Congress relying on these results in order to pass legislation to replace leaded gasoline with unleaded.

In the mid-seventies Allan’s lab was the first to provide data on hydrochloric acid in the stratosphere and to corroborate predictions of imminent ozone depletion in the atmosphere, which ultimately led to the ozone hole in the southern hemisphere. All of this was foundational to the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty created to protect the ozone layer. Allan’s large-scale project, the Acid Precipitation Experiment (APEX) , involving many institutions, identified a major site of acid rain production emanating from the Ohio River Valley where it flowed north into Canada and to the Northeastern states. Allan was rewarded with a hug from the British Prime Minister at the time, Margaret Thatcher, for verifying the U.S. source of acid rain contamination affecting Canadian lakes and plants.

Allan was motivated to pursue these projects because of his desire to “determine the extent human activity affects atmospheric chemistry on a global basis.” Throughout his life, Allan was intrigued with human nature from different angles. He studied various belief systems, and experienced alternative life styles in order to gain an insight into human mysteries – Sufism, Hinduism, Shaivism, Taoism, and Buddhism. He resided at Esalen Institute, knew Ida Rolf, was one of the first in Boulder to be rolfed, lived in a commune with Fritz Perls, creator of Gestalt Therapy, and was genuinely open-minded, empathetic, and gentle with a unique sense of impish humor.

Allan Lazrus will be remembered for his compassion and deep interest in the many people he encountered. He was a good parent, who encouraged and supported rather than challenged. He treated friends and colleagues in the same way. Allan is survived by his wife, Suzanne MacAulay, his daughter, Jennifer Weaver, three grandsons, Cody and Reed Weaver and Forrest Kehoe, and three great-grandchildren. Two of his children pre-deceased him – Heather MacAulay Lazrus and Gregory Meriwether Lazrus. In lieu of flowers or other gifts, donations should go to charitable organizations of one’s choice.