The National Academy of Inventors is a member organization comprising U.S. and international universities, and governmental and nonprofit research institutes, with more than 4,600 individual inventor members and fellows spanning more than 260 institutions worldwide.

The NAI was founded to recognize and encourage inventors with U.S. patents, enhance the visibility of academic technology and innovation, encourage the disclosure of intellectual property, educate and mentor innovative students, and to create wider public understanding of how its members’ inventions benefit society.

Visit the Academy of Inventors Website

About 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.

There are 1,898 NAI Fellows worldwide representing more than 300 prestigious universities and governmental and nonprofit research institutes. Collectively, the fellows hold more than 63,000 issued U.S. patents, which have generated more than 13,000 licensed technologies, 3,200 companies and upwards of 1 million jobs. In addition, over $3 trillion in revenue has been generated based on NAI fellow discoveries.

Among all NAI Fellows, there are more than 170 presidents and senior leaders of research universities, governmental and non-profit research institutes; about 710 members of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine; about 62 inductees of the National Inventors Hall of Fame; 69 recipients of the U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation and U.S. National Medal of Science; and 53 Nobel Laureates, among other awards and distinctions.

“Remarkable innovation occurs every day at USC. Our institution’s NAI Fellows include experts who produce a diverse array of world-changing inventions. They are creators, engineers, scientists, and clinicians, whose innovations produce solutions required to improve the human condition and ensure our prosperity.”

Dr. Ishwar K. Puri

Senior Vice President,
Research and Innovation

USC NAI Fellows & Senior Members

Of the 2,450+ NAI fellows and senior members around the country, USC represents 46 of them.

In addition, USC researchers who are named on a U.S. patent are inducted into the USC Chapter of the National Academy of Inventors. Institutions are encouraged by NAI to host their own chapter and customize it to their organization’s innovation goals and initiatives. USC has one of the largest chapters in the United States, with more than 320 members through calendar year 2020.

The USC chapter launched in 2017 and was featured in a 2018 story in the NAI publication Technology and Innovation.

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2024

Senior Members

Bart Kosko

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Law

Daniel Lidar

Viterbi Professorship in Engineering and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Chemistry, and Physics and Astronomy

Denis Evseenko

Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Director of Skeletal Regeneration;
Vice Chair for Research of Orthopaedic Surgery

John Mackay

Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biomedical Engineering and Ophthalmology

Justin Ichida

Associate Professor of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, John Douglas French Alzheimer's Endowed Professor in Regenerative Medicine

Peter Beerel

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Peter Kuhn

University Professor of Biological Sciences, Medicine, Biomedical Engineering, Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering, and Urology

Qiang Huang

Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering and Chemical Engineering and Materials Science

Senior Elite Member Travis Williams

Professor of Chemistry, Organic and Organometallic Chemistry

Wei-Min Shen

Associate Professor of Computer Science Practice

Yang Chai

University Professor and George and MaryLou Boone Chair in Craniofacial Molecular Biology; University Professor, Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine; Director, Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology; Associate Dean of Research, Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC

2023

Fellows

Chongwu Zhou

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Eun Kim

William M. Hogue Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

2022

Fellows

Gerard Medioni

Professor Emeritus of Computer Science

Joshua Yang

Arthur B. Freeman Chair Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Lifetime Fellow Petros Ioannou

A.V. "Bal" Balakrishnan Chair, University Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, and Industrial and Systems Engineering

Senior Members

Paul Ronney

Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

Yong Chen

Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, Industrial and Systems Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering

2021

Fellows

Andrea Armani

Ray Irani Chair in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Biomedical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, and Chemistry

Cyrus Shahabi

Helen N. and Emmett H. Jones Professorship in Engineering and Professor of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Spatial Sciences

Sri Narayan

Late professor of chemistry and scientific director of the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute


Senior Members

Chongwu Zhou

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

2020

Fellows

C.-C. Jay Kuo

Ming Hsieh Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science

Gerald Loeb

Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Neurology

Senior Members

Michael Zyda

Professor Emeritus of Computer Science Practice

Noah Malmstadt

Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Chemistry

Yan Liu

Philip and Cayley MacDonald Endowed Early Career Chair and Professor of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Biomedical Sciences

2019

Fellows

Gianluca Lazzi

Fred H. Cole Professorship in Engineering, and Provost Professor of Ophthalmology, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Clinical Entrepreneurship, and Biomedical Engineering

Keith Chugg

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Neil Segel

IBM Professor of Engineering Management and Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering and Computer Science Practice

Senior Members

Qifa Zhou

Zohrab A. Kaprielian Fellow in Engineering and Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Ophthalmology

Wei Wu

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

2018

Fellows

Lifetime Fellow Ellis Meng

Shelly and Ofer Nemirovsky Chair in Convergent Bioscience and Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering

Michael Waterman

University Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences, Computer Science, and Mathematics

2017

Fellows

Andrew Viterbi

USC Presidential Chair and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Ming Hsieh

Adjunct Research Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Medicine

2016

Fellows

Lifetime Fellow Mark Humayun

Professor of Ophthalmology, Biomedical Engineering, and Integrative Anatomical Sciences; Cornelius J. Pings Chair in Biomedical Sciences; Co-Director, USC Eye Institute; Director of USC Institute for Biomedical Therpeutics; Director, USC Sensory Science Institute