The first ISSI Senior Award was presented to Prof. Stanley Whittingham of Binghamton University and President of the ISSI from 2009-2011.
He presented a special invited talk at SSI-21 in Padua, which was entitled:
“Solid State Ionics – The Key to the Discovery, Introduction and Domination of Lithium Batteries for Portable Energy Storage”
In 1967 a revolution began in solid state electrochemistry when Ford announced the high ionic mobility of sodium ions in beta alumina, a highly non-stoichiometric material. To measure the ionic conductivity of these materials, mixed ion and electron conducting electrodes were required such as LixV2O5 or NaxWO3. The concept of non-stoichiometry was not a part of the battery community’s language; Dalton’s Law still prevailed. The use of mixed conductors with fast ion conduction led to the recognition that intercalation reactions themselves could be used to store energy, particularly when the mobile ion was lithium. Early efforts focused predominantly on layered structures, such as LixTiS2 and LixV2O5. Exxon briefly commercialized LixTiS2 using a LiAl anode (Whittingham); this was followed by MoliEnergy with LixMoS2 using a pure Li anode (Dahn), which led to a number of safety issues. It was not until an intercalation anode, C6Li (Basu) was combined (SONY) with LiCoO2 (Goodenough) that a commercially viable battery became available. Such batteries now dominate portable energy storage and even are entering MWh size grid storage. Each one of the components depends on an understanding of Solid State Ionics to be successful. However, even today Li cells only store 11-25% of their theoretical capacity. We need to “close this gap” by enhancing both the ionic mobility and the electron mobility in the materials, so that thicker electrodes can be used. There is also a resurgence of interest today in solid electrolytes that would enable the use of pure lithium anodes. These issues will be discussed together with a projection into the future. Many thanks are due to Esso (now ExxonMobil), US DOE, Stanford U. and many colleagues for support over the last decades.
ISSI Board of Directors nominations
ISSI members are invited to submit names of colleagues for positions on the International Society for Solid State Ionics Board. Per the ISSI By-laws, the Board is comprised of 6 Officers and 9 Councillors (15 total). Board elections are held during the SSI conference. Board position responsibilities and open positions for the July, 2026 society elections at SSI-25 in Singapore, are detailed below.
Society Officers
Immediate Past President, President, Vice President,
Secretary, Vice-Secretary,
Treasurer
Open Positions
Vice-President, President-Elect (one position)
- Acts for President on any occasion in which the President is unable to carry on normal duties
- Assumes role of President at conclusion of term of President, or earlier if the position of President becomes vacant
Vice-Secretary, Secretary-Elect (one position)
- Assist the secretary with the various recordkeeping and communication duties of the society including
- Webmaster of the ISSI website: (www.internationalsocietysolidstateionics.org)
- Maintain minutes of Council/Officer meetings
- Maintain records of Society
- Communicate society news, meeting news, and awards announcements to members; collect award applications
- Conducts general correspondence, as directed by the President and the Board
- Similar to the vice-president role, the intent of the vice secretary position is to gain experience and operating knowledge in order to serve as society secretary during the next election cycle.
Society Councillors
3 councilors from Europe
3 councilors from Asia/Oceania
2 councilors from the Americas
1 councilor from any region
Open Positions
There are three open councillor positions for the 2026 election: 1 open position each for Europe, Asia/Oceania, and the Americas
- Assist with general administration of Society
- May participate in ad-hoc committees appointed by the President.
Nominations for any of the above positions (including self-nominations) are requested and should be sent to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
