Honors and Recognition

Honors Spotlight:

Recipient of the Robert A. Welch Award in Chemistry

Cockrell School of Engineering professor and inventor of the lithium-ion battery, John B. Goodenough, is the 2017 recipient of the Robert A. Welch Award in Chemistry. The purpose of the Welch Award is to foster and encourage basic chemical research and to recognize, in a substantial manner, the value of chemical research contributions for the benefit of humankind. Goodenough’s revolutionary invention of the lithium-ion battery in 1980 was a groundbreaking, environmentally-sensitive contribution to the proliferation of portable electronic devices. In recognizing the transformative nature of Dr. Goodenough’s research to our society, Charles W. Tate, Director and Chair of The Welch Foundation Board, commented that “The global impact of Goodenough’s research of electronic structure and bonding metal oxides is so vast, it is truly impossible to measure.”