(Trends Wide) — John B. Goodenough, the Nobel Prize-winning engineer whose contributions to the development of lithium-ion batteries revolutionized wearable technology, has died at the age of 100.
The scientist died on June 25, according to a statement from the University of Texas at Austin, where Goodenough served as a faculty member for 37 years. His cause of death was not provided.
“John’s legacy as a brilliant scientist is immeasurable: his discoveries have improved the lives of billions of people around the world,” UT Austin President Jay Hartzell said in a statement Monday.
Goodenough is credited with the pivotal discovery and development in the 1980s of materials that would allow for a more stable and powerful rechargeable battery.
He became the oldest Nobel Prize winner at 97 when he received the 2019 chemistry prize for the development of lithium-ion batteries, along with M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino.
The trio’s individual advances in battery technology “created a rechargeable world” in which portable electronic devices such as cell phones and laptops have become ubiquitous around the world, the Nobel committee said in its announcement at the time.
The innovation also laid the foundation for the development of long-range electric vehicles and renewable energy storage.
“Live to be 97 (years old) and you can do anything,” Goodenough said after receiving the Nobel prize, quoted in a 2019 statement from UT Austin.
In addition to his groundbreaking research, Goodenough was a beloved mentor and professor at UT Austin, the university said.
“John was not only a great researcher, he was also a well-liked and respected teacher. He took pride in being a mentor to many graduate students and faculty members who benefited from his wisdom and encouragement,” Sharon L. Wood, UT Austin Chancellor, said in a statement.
Goodenough had received the National Medal of Science, the Enrico Fermi Award, and the Benjamin Franklin Medal, among several other prestigious awards.
Goodenough, who was born in Germany in 1922, grew up in the northeastern US and earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Yale University. After serving in the US Army as a meteorologist, he earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago in 1952, according to the UT Austin statement.
John B. Goodenough speaks with students in this photo provided by the University of Texas at Austin. (Credit: UT Austin)
His career began that year at the Lincoln Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In his 24-year career at MIT, he was among the researchers who laid the foundation for random access memory (RAM) used in laptop and desktop computers.
In 1976, Goodenough became professor and head of Oxford University’s Laboratory of Inorganic Chemistry, where he finally made his breakthrough in lithium-ion batteries, according to the statement.
He then joined the UT Austin faculty in 1986, where he became known for his “quick wit and contagious laugh,” the university statement says.
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“That laughter could be heard reverberating through the engineering buildings at UT – you knew when Goodenough was on your floor and you couldn’t help but smile at the thought of running into him,” the statement said.
Goodenough and his wife Irene were married for more than 70 years until her death in 2016, the university said. That year, he established the Irene W. Goodenough Presidential Scholarship in Nursing in honor of his wife.
In addition, he created the John B. and Irene W. Goodenough Endowed Research Fund in Engineering and St. Catherine’s College, Oxford University established a Goodenough Scholarship in Chemistry in his honor.
“John was just an incredible person: a truly excellent researcher, teacher, mentor and innovator,” said Roger Bonnecaze, dean of the UT Austin Cockrell School of Engineering.
“Her joy and care in all she did, and that remarkable laugh, were contagious and inspiring,” Bonnecaze said in a statement. “What an impressive life he led!”
