UT-Austin Professor John Goodenough Wins Nobel Prize In Chemistry

AUSTIN, TX — A University of Texas at Austin professor is one of three recipients of the Nobel Prize in chemistry for 2019.

John B. Goodenough, a professor at the university's Cockrell School of Engineering, received the prize along with Stanley Whittingham, a professor at the State University of New York at Binghamton and Akira Yoshino. The trio were awarded the prestigious prize for the development of lithium-ion batteries.

"Lithium-ion batteries are used globally to power the portable electronics that we use to communicate, work, study, listen to music and search for knowledge," the Nobel Foundation said in a press release announcing the prize. "Lithium-ion batteries have also enabled the development of long-range electric cars and the storage of energy from renewable sources, such as solar and wind power."

In a press release, the university said Goodenough "...identified and developed the critical materials that provided the high-energy density needed to power portable electronics, initiating the wireless revolution."

Today, the batteries are used in devices including mobile phones, power tools and even electric hybrid cars. The Nobel Foundation said the batteries have "laid the foundation of a wireless, fossil fuel-free society."

In a press release shared by the university, Goodenough, 97, said he was honored and humbled to win: "Live to 97 (years old) and you can do anything," he quipped. "I'm honored and humbled to win the Nobel Prize. I thank all my friends for the support and assistance throughout my life."

Photo of John B. Goodenough courtesy of University of Texas at Austin.

Goodenough is the oldest person to ever win a Nobel Prize. The previous record holder was Arthur Ashkin, who won the Nobel Prize in physics in 2018 at age 96.

UT-Austin President Gregory L. Fenves spoke to the impact of Goodenough's contributions: "Billions of people around the world benefit every day from John’s innovations,” Fenves, formerly dean of the Cockrell School, said. “In addition to being a world-class inventor, he’s an outstanding teacher, mentor and researcher. We are grateful for John’s three decades of contributions to UT Austin’s mission.”

Added Cockrell School Dean Sharon L. Wood: “Professor John Goodenough is an extraordinary man and engineer, and I am delighted that his world-changing work is being recognized with the Nobel Prize. “Today, everyone in the Texas Engineering community — our faculty, staff, students and alumni around the world — are proud of his accomplishment and inspired by the example he has set.”

According to a bio provided by UT-Austin, Goodenough received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Yale University in 1944 and holds a doctorate in physics from the University of Chicago. He is the recipient of numerous national and international honors, including the Japan Prize, the Enrico Fermi Award, the Charles Stark Draper Prize and the National Medal of Science. In addition, Goodenough was awarded the National Medal of Science in 2013 by President Barack Obama.

Goodenough receiving the National Medal of Science in 2013 from President Barack Obama. Photo courtesy of UT-Austin.

Prior to joining UT-Austin in 1986, Goodenough was a professor at the University of Oxford, where he made the lithium ion battery. His career began at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1952.

Goodenough is now the second current nobel laureate at the university, joining physicist Steven Weinberg (1979) in that exclusive club. According to the university, two other UT Austin professors, both now deceased, also won Nobel Prizes: Hermann J. Muller in medicine and physiology (1946) and Ilya Prigogine in chemistry (1977). Alumnus J.M. Coetzee won the Nobel Prize in literature (2003). Two UT Austin alumni have also won Nobel Prizes during the past two years, Michael Young and Jim Allison, who respectively won the prize for medicine or physiology in 2017 and 2018.

In celebration of his considerable accomplishment, the UT-Austin tower on Wednesday night was bathed in orange light to reflect the official school color. The lighted honor is undertaken by the school in alerting to especially significant accomplishments emanating from the campus.

— Tony Cantú contributed to this article.