Michael J. Kurylo could have been a cowboy or a farmer, but he ended up becoming an atmospheric scientist studying global change and the trends in the abundances of atmospheric constituents such ozone- and other climate-related trace gases, and later transitioning to program management and international environmental policy. He spent more than three decades at the National Institute of Standards and Technology – but a half of that period, he was on Inter-Agency detail to NASA Headquarters as a Manager of NASA Congressionally-mandated Upper Atmosphere Research Program. Over the years, he received many awards and recognitions from the Department of Commerce, NASA, NOAA, EPA, and most recently he was inducted into the National Institute of Standards Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Scientists, Engineers, and Administrators.