Nobel Prize: 97-year-old John Goodenough Becomes Oldest Winner

US-based researcher John B. Goodenough, born in 1922 in Jena, Germany, became the oldest Nobel laureate ever awarded a Nobel Prize in any category, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on  Wednesday.

The 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to John Goodenough, Stanley Whittingham, and Akira Yoshino. The trio of scientists won for their work on developing rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which are used in everything from smartphones to pacemakers.

At 97-years-old, Professor Goodenough from the United States of America is the oldest ever Nobel laureate.

Goodenough, who turned 97 in July is a few months older than the 2018 Physics Prize laureate Arthur Ashkin, said Goran K Hansson, permanent secretary of the Academy.

Three winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2019 will be awarded a share of the nine million Swedish kroner (£750,000) prize money (AFP)

The announcement was made at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Wednesday morning, with the winners awarded a share of the nine million Swedish Kroner (£740,000) prize money.

Hansson said the Academy had not reached Goodenough before the announcement and did not know if he would come for the December 10 award ceremony in Stockholm.

October 09, 2019