The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has announced that the 2019 Nobel Prize has been awarded to three (3) scientists for work leading to the development of lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries now power smartphones, laptop computers, and electric vehicles—and new breakthroughs giving them longer life and greater storage capacity continues to happen. Goran K. Hassan of the Nobel Foundation said, “Through their work, this year's Chemistry Laureates have laid the foundation of a wireless, fossil fuel-free society.”
John B. Goodenough, an American born in Germany, holds the Virginia H. Cockrell Centenniel Chair in Engineering in the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. After earning a B.S. (summa cum laude) in Mathematics at Yale, Goodenough served as a meteorologist in the U. S. Army during World War II. After the war, he earned his Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Chicago. He was previously the recipient of the Enrico Fermi Award and the National Medal of Science.
M. Stanley Whittingham is Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science and Engineering at Binghampton University (State University of New York[SUNY]) and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Born in the United Kingdom, Whittingham earned all of his degrees at Oxford University.
Akira Yoshino is part of the Asahei Kasei Corporation and on the faculty of Meijo University in Japan. He earned 2 degrees in petrochemistry at the Department of Engineering of Kyoto University before earning a D. Eng. degree from the Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University.