John Goodenough was a scientist who won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in the creation of the rechargeable lithium-ion battery.
- Died: June 25, 2023 (Who else died on June 25?)
- Details of death: Died at an assisted living facility in Austin, Texas, at the age of 100.
- We invite you to share condolences for John Goodenough in our Guest Book.
John Goodenough’s legacy
Goodenough studied physics at the University of Chicago after serving as a meteorologist in the U.S. Army during World War II. He then joined the Lincoln Laboratory at MIT, working on a team that was developing random access memory (RAM) for computers. After 24 years at MIT, Goodenough moved on to the University of Oxford, where he headed the Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory. It was there that he did his most groundbreaking research.
Rechargeable battery technology was in its infancy when Goodenough began his work at Oxford. A rechargeable battery had been developed by M. Stanley Whittingham, but it was touchy and potentially dangerous. Goodenough refined Whittingham’s work, creating a stronger, smaller, and more stable battery that could be recharged over and over. This creation was later further enhanced by Akira Yoshino, becoming the lithium-ion batteries which now power electronics, appliances, electric vehicles, and more.
After several years at Oxford, Goodenough continued his career at the University of Texas at Austin for decades, working well into his 90s. Late in life, he was attempting to develop a powerful battery that could store and transport energy from alternate sources like solar and wind. When Goodenough was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2019, sharing it with Whittingham and Yoshino, he was, at 97 years old, the oldest person ever to receive that honor.
Notable quote
“Science is an international language, that is one of the beauties of science… there is always international interaction in all aspects on science.” —from a 2019 interview during Nobel Week
Tributes to John Goodenough
Full obituary: The New York Times
