National Academy of Inventors

Established in 2010, the National Academy of Inventors aims to recognize and encourage inventors whose patents have been granted by the US. Among its goals are to advance academic technology and innovation, promote intellectual property disclosure, educate and mentor innovative students and translate the inventions of its members for societal benefit.

A national conversation was launched at the 2013 NAI Annual Conference when participants from six universities addressed the importance of recognizing patents and commercialization activity for merit and promotion. The NAI has played a critical role in changing the culture of patent valuation and commercialization in its member institutions across the country since it was established over a decade ago.

These initiatives continue to attract national attention. Many organizations and university leaders are recommending and reporting on best practices for university intellectual property management, including the Association for Public and Land-grant Universities, the Association of American Universities, and the Association for Public and Land-grant Universities, the Task Force on Tenure, Promotion and Technology Transfer.

Institutions of higher education, governmental organizations and non-profit research organizations can join the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Membership is only open to institutional members.

Over 300 prestigious universities and governmental and non-profit research institutions are represented by the NAI Fellow program. Among the Fellows, over 53,000 U.S. patents have been issued, resulting in over 13,000 licensed technologies, 3,200 companies and the creation of more than one million jobs. Additionally, NAI Fellow discoveries have generated over $3 trillion in revenue.