Christos Dimitrakopoulos, professor of chemical engineering, has been named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). He is one of 168 prolific academic innovators from across the world who have been elected to this year’s class of Fellows.
“It is a great honor to be elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors,” Dimitrakopoulos says. “Invention, innovation, and protection of created intellectual property have been a major outcome of my research activities, both in my industrial research and academic career. I greatly appreciate the recognition of my contributions by NAI.”
Dimitrakopoulos, who joined the university as a professor in 2013, holds 89 U.S. patents and has authored or co-authored more than 90 publications, with a total citation count of more than 22,450. In February 2019, he was among 66 academic inventors named by the NAI to the inaugural class of NAI Senior Members. That class represented 37 NAI member institutions, including research universities and governmental and non-profit research institutes.
The 2019 Fellows represent 135 research universities and governmental and non-profit research institutes worldwide and collectively hold over 3,500 issued U.S. patents. Among the 2019 Fellows are six recipients of the U.S. National Medal of Technology & Innovation or U.S. National Medal of Science and four Nobel Laureates, as well as other honors and distinctions. Their collective body of research covers a range of scientific disciplines including neurobehavioral sciences, horticulture, photonics and nanomedicine.
With the election of the 2019 class, there are now 1,228 NAI Fellows worldwide, representing more than 250 prestigious universities and governmental and non-profit research institutes. Collectively, the 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. In addition, over $1.6 trillion in revenue has been generated based on NAI Fellow discoveries.
Paul R. Sanberg, president of the NAI, says “I am so impressed by the caliber of this year’s class of NAI Fellows, all of whom are highly-regarded in their respective fields. The breadth and scope of their discoveries are truly staggering. I’m excited not only see their work continue, but also to see their knowledge influence a whole new era of science, technology, and innovation worldwide.”