Measurements of atmospheric temperature have been performed by the NASA Scanning Raman Lidar based on the application of the pure rotational Raman (RR) technique. These measurements represent to our knowledge the first successful lidar measurements of temperature using the RR technique in the UV region, where eye-safe concerns are far less stringent than in the visible and IR. While the system configuration was unoptimized for temperature measurements, nevertheless results were achieved that demonstrate the feasibility of the RR technique for meteorological and climatological applications. Based on 90 minutes data averaging, lidar measurements extend up to 23 km, with RMS deviation between lidar and simultaneous radiosondes not exceeding 1.2 K and average bias smaller than 0.5 K. Simulations reveal that the RR technique in the UV has the potential for providing accurate measurements throughout the troposphere, with appreciable improvement with respect to visible systems for daytime operation.