John Goodenough poses at his desk holding a pen and looking at the camera smiling

The University of Texas at Austin Tower will shine with an orange glow Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015, in honor of professor John B. Goodenough.

Goodenough, who invented the lithium-ion battery, recently won the $1 million Samson Prize for Innovation in Alternative Fuels for Transportation.

The Eric and Sheila Samson Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation in Alternative Fuels for Transportation is the world’s largest monetary prize awarded in the field and is granted to scientists who have made critical advancements.

Goodenough plans to donate his prize money to UT Austin to thank the university for helping support his research lab.

Goodenough, who serves as the Virginia H. Cockrell Centennial Chair of Engineering in the Cockrell School of Engineering, was selected for the award by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s Science, Technology and Space Minister Yaakov Peri.

[Watch John B. Goodenough talk about his world-changing innovations.]