# William Shockley

_American physicist and inventor (1910–1989)_

Canonical: https://diginpl.com/people/william-shockley
Last updated: 2026-11-01

> William Bradford Shockley (February 13, 1910 – August 12, 1989) was an American physicist. He was the manager of a research group at Bell Labs that included John Bardeen and Walter Brattain. The three scientists were jointly awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics "for their researches on semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect."

## Quick facts

- **Born:** 13 February 1910 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q163415#P569))
- **Place of birth:** London ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q163415#P19))
- **Died:** 12 August 1989 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q163415#P570))
- **Place of death:** Stanford ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q163415#P20))
- **Citizenship:** United Kingdom; United States ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q163415#P27))
- **Occupation:** physicist; inventor; university teacher ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q163415#P106))
- **Political party:** Republican Party ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q163415#P102))
- **Education:** California Institute of Technology; Massachusetts Institute of Technology ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q163415#P69))
- **Spouse:** Jean Bailey; Emmy Lanning ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q163415#P26))
- **Awards:** Nobel Prize in Physics; Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize; IEEE Medal of Honor; Wilhelm Exner Medal; National Inventors Hall of Fame; IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award; Holley Medal; Fellow of the American Physical Society; Comstock Prize in Physics; Time Person of the Year ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q163415#P166))

## About

Partly as a result of Shockley's attempts to commercialize a new transistor design in the 1950s and 1960s, California's Silicon Valley became a hotbed of electronics innovation. He recruited brilliant employees, but quickly alienated them with his autocratic and erratic management; they left and founded major companies in the industry.

In his later life, while he was a professor of electrical engineering at Stanford University and afterward, Shockley became known for his outspoken promotion of racism and eugenics.

## Questions

**When was William Shockley born?**  
William Shockley was born on 13 February 1910 in London.

**Where did William Shockley study?**  
William Shockley was educated at California Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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## Sources

- [Wikipedia (English): William Shockley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shockley) — [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
- [Wikidata item Q163415](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q163415) — [CC0 1.0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- [Image: William Shockley, Stanford University.jpg by Chuck Painter / Stanford News Service (CC BY 3.0)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Shockley,_Stanford_University.jpg)

## Licence and attribution

Text from the Wikipedia article William Shockley, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: William Shockley, Stanford University.jpg — Chuck Painter / Stanford News Service, CC BY 3.0.

## Cite this page

"William Shockley". DigiNepal. Last updated 1 November 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/william-shockley. Retrieved 5 November 2026.