NAI Fellows
The NAI Fellows Program was established to highlight academic inventors who have demonstrated a 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. Election to NAI Fellow status is the highest professional distinction accorded solely to academic inventors.
About NAI Fellows
The program has 1,060 Fellows worldwide representing more than 250 prestigious universities and governmental and non-profit research institutes. Collectively, the Fellows hold more than 38,000 issued U.S. patents, which have generated over 11,000 licensed technologies and companies, and created more than 36 million jobs. In addition, over $1.6 trillion in revenue has been generated based on NAI Fellow discoveries.
With the induction of the 2018 class, there are now more than 125 presidents and senior leaders of research universities and non-profit research institutes, 502 members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; 40 inductees of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, 57 recipients of the U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation and U.S. National Medal of Science, 34 Nobel Laureates, 3 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering recipients, 304 AAAS Fellows, 200 IEEE Fellows, and 164 Fellows of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, among other awards and distinctions.
Call for Nominations
Nomination Requirements:
- A citation of impact from the Nominator containing evidence of the nominee’s outstanding contributions/achievements in innovation, describing the nominee’s work and the impact that their work, inventions, companies and/or products have had on society. No more than one (1) page.
- A description of how the nominee has supported and enhanced an environment of innovation in Universities or the non-profit sector. Please note that only nominations with strong and documentable evidence with regard to this key NAI Fellow selection criterion will be considered for nomination by the Chancellor. No more than one-half (1/2) page.
- Nominee’s CV to include a Full List of U.S. patents.
- Full List of any Startup companies or other companies that the nominee has worked with.
- Full List of any products that have resulted from the nominee’s work.
- List of service activities related to intellectual property and entrepreneurship (ie. involvement with NAI activities and publications, IP organizations such as GAIN, NSF iCorp, etc.).
Submit nominations (in full) to the Office of Research Commercialization at commercialization@ncsu.edu by June 1st.
Current NAI Fellows
Fred A. Kish, Ph.D.
M.C. DEAN DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR
2021 NAI Fellow
Behnam Pourdeyhimi, Ph.D.
ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR INDUSTRY RESEARCH AND EXTENSION, WILLIAM A. KLOPMAN DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR, AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NWI
2020 NAI Fellow
Tom Ranney, Ph.D.
JC RAULSTON DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR
2020 NAI Fellow
Rodolphe Barrangou, Ph.D.
PROFESSOR OF FOOD SCIENCE AND THE TODD R. KLAENHAMMER DISTINGUISHED SCHOLAR IN PROBIOTICS RESEARCH – NC STATE
2019 NAI Fellow
Kenneth R. Swartzel, Ph.D.
WILLIAM NEAL REYNOLDS DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR, EMERITUS
2019 NAI Fellow
Carlos Pignataro, M.S.
CTO AT CISCO SYSTEMS
AND ADJUNCT LECTURER IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING
2019 NAI Fellow
Sylvia M. Blankenship, Ph.D.
EMERITA PROFESSOR AND SENIOR ASSOCIATE DEAN – NC STATE
2018 NAI Fellow
Koji Sode, Ph.D.
PROFESSOR OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
AND WILLIAM R. KENAN JR. DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR – UNC
2018 NAI Fellow
Donald Bitzer, Ph.D.
DISTINGUISHED UNIVERSITY RESEARCH PROFESSOR – NC STATE
2017 NAI Fellow
William Ditto, Ph.D.
PROFESSOR – NC STATE
2017 NAI Fellow
Alexander V. Kabanov, Ph.D., Dr.Sci.
DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR NANOTECHNOLOGY IN DRUG DELIVERY AND MESCAL S. FERGUSON DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR – UNC
2017 NAI Fellow
Jayant Baliga, Ph.D.
DISTINGUISHED UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR – NC STATE
2016 NAI Fellow
Ruben Carbonell, Ph.D.
FRANK HAWKINS KENAN DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR – NC STATE
2016 NAI Fellow
Harold Kohn, Ph.D.
PROFESSOR EMERITUS – UNC
2016 NAI Fellow
Frances Ligler, Ph.D.
LAMPE DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING – NC STATE
2016 NAI Fellow
Nancy Allbritton, Ph.D.
KENAN DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING AND CHEMISTRY AND CHAIR, JOINT DEPARTMENT OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING – UNC
2014 NAI Fellow
Jay Narayan, Ph.D.
JOHN C. FAN DISTINGUISHED CHAIR PROFESSOR – NC STATE
2014 NAI Fellow
David Aspnes, Ph.D.
DISTINGUISHED UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR AND DIRECTOR OF GRADUATE PROGRAMS – NC STATE
2013 NAI Fellow
Jerry Cuomo, Ph.D.
DISTINGUISHED RESEARCH PROFESSOR – NC STATE
2013 NAI Fellow
Joseph DeSimone, Ph.D.
CHANCELLOR’S EMINENT PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY – UNC
2013 NAI Fellow
Oliver Smithies, Ph.D.
NOBEL LAUREATE AND WEATHERSPOON EMINENT DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR – UNC
2012 NAI Fellow
Franky So, Ph.D.
WALTER AND IDA FREEMAN DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR – NC STATE
2012 NAI Fellow