The National Academy of Inventors was founded in 2010 to recognize and encourage inventors with patents issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, enhance the visibility of academic technology and innovation, encourage the disclosure of intellectual property, educate and mentor innovative students, and translate the inventions of its members to benefit society. Election to NAI Fellow status is considered one of the highest honors accorded to academic inventors who have demonstrated a highly prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society.
Nominations are made by peers.
2014: Antonios Mikos, Bioengineering & Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Rebecca Richards-Kortum, Bioengineering
2015: Naomi Halas, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry; Kyriacos Nicolaou, Chemistry; James Tour, Chemistry, Materials Science and Nanoengineering
2016: Richard Baraniuk, Electrical and Computer Engineering
2017: Philip Kortum, Psychological Sciences
2018: Pulickel Ajayan, Materials Science and Nanoengineering
2019: Satish Nagarajaiah, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
2020: Ashutosh Sabharwal, Electrical and Computer Engineering
2022: Ramamoorthy Ramesh, Materials Science and Nanoengineering, Physics and Astronomy