Sir Michael Stanley Whittingham is a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science and Engineering at Binghamton University. Following his D Phil at Oxford University, he was a research associate in Materials S&E at Stanford University. This was followed by 16 years in the energy industry, before returning to academia at Binghamton. He developed the materials chemistry programs and subsequently MS and PhD degrees in Materials Science and Engineering. He served as the University VPR for five years, and as vice-chair, Board of Directors of the Research Foundation of SUNY. He was the 2019 Chemistry Nobel Laureate for the discovery of lithium rechargeable batteries, and the 2023 VinFutures $3M Grand Prize winner. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and Fellow of The Royal Society.

He presently leads the Battery-NY $113M economic development effort, and is the Chief Innovation Officer of the recently awarded NSF Upstate New York Energy Storage Engine. He is a founding member of NYBEST, and serves on the Board as Vice-Chair for Research, and Chief Scientific Officer of NAATBatt. He received a knighthood in the King’s birthday honors 2024 list.