Eight innovators from seven UT institutions to be inducted as National Academy of Inventors Fellows
Eight faculty members from seven University of Texas institutions have received the highest professional distinction accorded to academic inventors: election to National Academy of Inventors (NAI) Fellow status. This brings to 47 the number of NAI Fellows at UT institutions.
The Class of 2019 Fellows from UT institutions are:
- Surendra Shah, UT Arlington
- Robert O. (Bill) Williams, UT Austin
- Lakshman Tamil, UT Dallas
- Ryan Wicker, UT El Paso
- Karen Lozano, UT Rio Grande Valley
- Rena Bizios, UT San Antonio
- Michael S. Brown and Joseph L. Goldstein, UT Southwestern Medical Center
The NAI Fellows Program highlights academic inventors who have demonstrated a 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. To date, NAI Fellows hold more than 41,500 issued U.S. patents, which have generated over 11,000 licensed technologies and companies and created more than 36 million jobs.
The UT representatives are among 168 academic innovators who will be inducted as NAI Fellows during a ceremony in Phoenix on April 10.
About The University of Texas System
For more than 130 years, The University of Texas System has been committed to improving the lives of Texans and people all over the world through education, research and health care. With 14 institutions, an enrollment of nearly 240,000 students and an operating budget of $21.1 billion (FY 2020), the UT System is one of the largest public university systems in the United States. UT institutions produce more than 60,000 graduates annually and award more than one-third of the state’s undergraduate degrees and more than half of its health professional degrees. Collectively, UT-owned and affiliated hospitals and clinics accounted for more than 8.2 million outpatient visits and 1.6 million hospital days last year. Across UT institutions, research and development expenditures total $2.9 billion – the highest in Texas and second highest in the nation among public higher education systems – and the UT System is regularly ranked among the top 10 most innovative universities in the world. The UT System also is one of the largest employers in Texas, with more than 21,000 faculty – including Nobel laureates and members of the National Academies – and more than 83,000 health care professionals, researchers and support staff.
News Contact Information
Karen Adler: kadler@utsystem.edu • 512-499-4360 (direct) • 210-912-8055 (cell)