Richard Feynman won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965.
He shared the prize with Julian Schwinger and Shin’ichirō Tomonaga for their fundamental work in quantum electrodynamics, or QED. Their research explained how light and electrically charged particles interact and provided a highly precise framework for calculating electromagnetic effects at the quantum level.
Feynman’s distinctive contribution included a path-integral formulation of quantum mechanics and the diagrammatic method now known as Feynman diagrams. These diagrams give physicists a visual shorthand for representing particle interactions and remain central to modern particle-physics calculations.
The award did not recognize his later public role on the Rogers Commission, which investigated the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Nor was it awarded in 1967, when Hans Bethe won. Feynman’s Nobel recognition came in 1965, the same year Schwinger and Tomonaga shared the honor with him.