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Russell named Fellow of National Academy of Inventors

Published: March 4, 2015
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B. Don Russell
Professor B. Don Russell

The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) announced that two researchers from Texas A&M University, B. Don Russell Jr., and Darwin J. Prockop will become NAI Fellows this spring. Professor Russell is a faculty affiliate of the Texas A&M Energy Institute.

Russell and Prockop are among 170 new Fellows to be inducted during the NAI’s 4th Annual Conference on March 20 at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. NAI Fellows are academic inventors and innovators who are named on U.S. patents and were nominated by their peers for outstanding contributions to innovation.

Texas A&M Vice President for Research Glen A. Laine said, “I am pleased and excited that these outstanding faculty members have been recognized for their applied research, which contributes to our mission as a land grant institution.”

Russell is the Harry E. Bovay Jr. Chair and a professor in the Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M, as well as a Regents Professor and a Distinguished Professor. He holds 13 U.S. patents and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.  Russell is a Fellow of five other societies, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the National Society of Professional Engineers, the National Academy of Forensic Engineers, and the British Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Prockop is the Stearman Chair in Genomic Medicine and a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine. He directs the Texas A&M College of Medicine’s Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Scott & White Hospital in Temple, Texas.  Prockop holds 20 U.S. patents and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Institute of Medicine.

Following the induction ceremony in March, the total number of NAI Fellows will come to 414, representing more than 150 prestigious research universities and governmental and non-profit research institutions. NAI Fellows include 61 presidents and senior leadership of research universities and non-profit research institutes, 208 members of the other National Academies, 21 inductees of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, 16 recipients of the U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation, 10 recipients of the U.S. National Medal of Science, 21 Nobel Laureates, 11 Lemelson-MIT prize recipients, 112 American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows, and 62 IEEE Fellows, among other awards and distinctions.

The 2014 NAI Fellows Selection Committee comprises 17 members, including NAI Fellows, recipients of U.S. National Medals, National Inventors Hall of Fame inductees, members of the National Academies and senior officials from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Association of American Universities, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association of University Technology Managers, and the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

About the National Academy of Inventors: NAI is a 501(c)(3) non-profit member organization comprised of U.S. and international universities, and governmental and non-profit research institutions, with over 3,000 individual inventor members and Fellows spanning more than 200 institutions, and growing rapidly. It was founded in 2010 to recognize and encourage inventors with patents issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, enhance the visibility of academic technology and innovation, encourage the disclosure of intellectual property, educate and mentor innovative students, and translate the inventions of its members to benefit society. The NAI edits the multidisciplinary journal, Technology and Innovation, published by Cognizant Communication Corporation (NY). www.academyofinventors.org.

About Research at Texas A&M University: As one of the world’s leading research institutions, Texas A&M is in the vanguard in making significant contributions to the storehouse of knowledge, including that of science and technology. Research conducted at Texas A&M represents annual expenditures of more than $820 million. That research creates new knowledge that provides basic, fundamental and applied contributions resulting in many cases in economic benefits to the state, nation and world. To learn more, visit research.tamu.edu.