# John B. Goodenough

_American materials scientist (1922–2023)_

Canonical: https://diginpl.com/people/john-b-goodenough
Last updated: 2026-11-01

> John Bannister Goodenough ( GUUD-in-uf; July 25, 1922 – June 25, 2023) was an American materials scientist, a solid-state physicist, and a Nobel laureate in chemistry. From 1986 he was a professor of Materials Science, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering,  at the University of Texas at Austin. He is credited with

## Quick facts

- **Born:** 25 July 1922 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q906529#P569))
- **Place of birth:** Jena ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q906529#P19))
- **Died:** 25 June 2023 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q906529#P570))
- **Place of death:** Austin ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q906529#P20))
- **Citizenship:** United States ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q906529#P27))
- **Occupation:** physicist; inventor; meteorologist; university teacher ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q906529#P106))
- **Education:** Yale University; University of Chicago ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q906529#P69))
- **Official website:** me.utexas.edu/people/faculty-directory/goodenough ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q906529#P856))
- **Awards:** Fellow of the American Physical Society; honorary doctor of the University of Bordeaux; Centenary Prize; Von Hippel Award; ACM Fellow; Olin Palladium Award; Japan Prize; honorary doctorate of the University of Santiago de Compostela; Enrico Fermi Award; Foreign Member of the Royal Society; National Medal of Science; Charles Stark Draper Prize; The Eric and Sheila Samson Prime Minister's Prize for Innovation in Alternative Fuels for Transportation; Clarivate Citation Laureates; Welch Award in Chemistry ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q906529#P166))

## About

identifying the Goodenough–Kanamori rules of the sign of the magnetic superexchange in materials, with developing materials for computer random-access magnetic memory and with inventing cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries.

Goodenough was awarded the National Medal of Science, the Copley Medal, the Fermi Award, the Draper Prize, and the Japan Prize. The John B. Goodenough Award in materials science is named for him. In 2019, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry alongside M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino; at 97 years old, he became the oldest Nobel laureate in history. From August 27, 2021, until his death, he was the oldest living Nobel Prize laureate.

## Questions

**When was John B. Goodenough born?**  
John B. Goodenough was born on 25 July 1922 in Jena.

**Where did John B. Goodenough study?**  
John B. Goodenough was educated at Yale University, University of Chicago.

## Related

- [Jan Koum](https://diginpl.com/people/jan-koum)
- [Joe Gebbia](https://diginpl.com/people/joe-gebbia)
- [Luke Nosek](https://diginpl.com/people/luke-nosek)
- [Miriam Adelson](https://diginpl.com/people/miriam-adelson)
- [Adam Riess](https://diginpl.com/people/adam-riess)
- [Alan J. Heeger](https://diginpl.com/people/alan-j-heeger)
- [Alfred G. Gilman](https://diginpl.com/people/alfred-g-gilman)
- [Alfred Hershey](https://diginpl.com/people/alfred-hershey)
- [Allan MacLeod Cormack](https://diginpl.com/people/allan-macleod-cormack)
- [Andrea M. Ghez](https://diginpl.com/people/andrea-m-ghez)
- [Andrew Fire](https://diginpl.com/people/andrew-fire)
- [Andrew Schally](https://diginpl.com/people/andrew-schally)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia (English): John B. Goodenough](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_B._Goodenough) — [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
- [Wikidata item Q906529](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q906529) — [CC0 1.0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- [Image: Nobel 9 Dec 2019 029 copy (49204051647) (cropped).jpg by US Embassy Sweden (CC BY 2.0)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nobel_9_Dec_2019_029_copy_(49204051647)_(cropped).jpg)

## Licence and attribution

Text from the Wikipedia article John B. Goodenough, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Nobel 9 Dec 2019 029 copy (49204051647) (cropped).jpg — US Embassy Sweden, CC BY 2.0.

## Cite this page

"John B. Goodenough". DigiNepal. Last updated 1 November 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/john-b-goodenough. Retrieved 4 November 2026.