Born on December 9, 1919, he received Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology in 1946. In 1946, he become Professor at the University of Minnesota. In 1959, he shifted to Harward University. He determined structure of boron hydride using technique of x-ray crystallography. Presently his subject of interest is structure and working of enzymes and large molecules. Lipscomb received the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1976 for his work on the structure and bonding of boron hydride and its derivatives.