Missouri S&T will host a winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize in chemistry as part of the university’s 150th anniversary celebration events. Dr. M. Stanley Whittingham, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Binghamton University, will deliver the fifth annual Stoffer Lecture virtually at 4 p.m. Friday, April 16.

Attendees may watch the lecture on Zoom or in Leach Theatre in Castleman Hall, located on the Missouri S&T campus in Rolla at the corner of 10th and Main streets. Doors to Leach Theatre will open at 3:30 p.m. for in-person attendance.

“We are excited to welcome Dr. Whittingham for what promises to be a fascinating talk,” says Dr. Rainer Glaser, chair of the chemistry department at Missouri S&T. “His development of the lithium-ion battery was foundational for powering most of the electronics that we use today.”

The lithium-ion battery is a lightweight, rechargeable and powerful battery used in everything from mobile phones to laptops and electric vehicles. It can also store significant amounts of energy from solar and wind power.

The Stoffer Lecture is free and open to the public. Those who wish to attend in-person should contact Tammy Heldenbrand in the chemistry department at chem@mst.edu. Community members will need to complete a Campus Visitor Request Form to attend. Missouri S&T faculty, students and staff will not need to complete a visitor form to attend the event.

The Stoffer Lecture is co-sponsored by Brewer Science, MO-SCI and the 150th Anniversary Advisory Committee, which awarded a $3,000 grant for the lecture. Details about the lecture and other upcoming events are available on the 150-anniversary website at 150.mst.edu/events.

The lecture series was established by Dr. James O. Stoffer, Missouri S&T Curators’ Distinguished Professor emeritus of chemistry and provides the campus and Rolla communities an opportunity to learn from scholars and innovators in the field of polymer chemistry and related areas.