A native of California, he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II before working at what is now Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

[1] He grew up in California and then served in the United States Navy during World War II as an electronic technician's mate.

[2] After the war Winningstad continued in the electronics field when graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in electrical engineering.

[2] As the transistor would replace vacuum tubes in most applications,[2] Winningstad later joked that he "graduated technically obsolete".

[2] He wrote The Area of Enlightenment: "Don't Confuse Me with the Facts, I've Already Made up my Mind" with ghostwriter Carla Perry, which was published in 2005.

[5] He killed himself at his home in Newport after suffering from an undisclosed illness that had caused him great physical pain.