The University of Chicago Radiocarbon Lab was the first lab devoted to radiocarbon dating in the world. It was founded by Willard F. Libby (1908-1980), a noted chemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1960 for his role in developing the science of radiocarbon dating. The lab operated in the university's Institute for Nuclear Studies.

Libby earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from UC Berkeley. He began his career as an Assistant Professor there in 1931. During WWII, Libby was actively involved in the Manhattan Project. He played a key role in developing a gaseaous diffusion method to separate the uranium isotopes, which was used in the process for uranium enrichment.

After the war, Libby joined the chemistry department at the University of Chicago in order to maintain his association with Haorld Urey, a Nobel laureate in chemistry, whom he had collaborated with during the Manhattan Project. Libby remained at the University of Chicago until 1954, when he was appointed commissioner of the United States Atomic Energy Commission (A.E.C.) by President Eisenhower.

In 1959, Libby joined the faculty of the chemistry department at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he founded the first radiocarbon lab in the UC system. Libby retired from UCLA in 1976, leaving behind a distinguished career. In addition to the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, he received numerous honors including the American Chemical Society Award for Nuclear Applications in Chemistry, the Albert Einstein Medal and the Day Medal of the Geological Society of America. He was also elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.