High-field magic angle spinning dynamic nuclear polarization (MAS DNP) is often used to enhance the sensitivity of solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) experiments by transferring spin polarization from electron spins to nuclear spins. Here, we demonstrate that γ-irradiation induces the formation of stable radicals in inorganic solids, such as fused quartz and borosilicate glasses as well as organic solids such as glucose, cellulose, and a urea/polyethylene polymer. The radicals were then used to polarize 29Si or 1H spins in the core of some of these materials. Significant MAS DNP enhancements (ε) greater than 400 and 30 were obtained for fused quartz and glucose, respectively. For other samples negligible ε were obtained likely due to low concentrations of radicals or the presence of abundant quadrupolar spins. These results demonstrate that ionizing radiation is a promising alternative method for generating stable radicals suitable for high-field MAS DNP experiments.