At least 26 scientists of Indian origin were elected as 2025 Fellows of the prestigious National Academy of Inventors. They are among 169 selected from US institutions and 16 as International Fellows.
The NAI announced the names in a December 11, press release. All of them will be formally inducted as NAI Fellows at the organization’s 15th Annual Conference scheduled to be held June 4, 2026, in Los Angeles, California.
This year’s 169 U.S. Fellows represent 127 universities, government agencies, and research institutions, across 40 U.S. states. Of the 26 Indian-origin Fellows, 1 is from Melbourne, Australia and the remaining are from US institutions around the country, including New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, California, etc.
The NAI Fellowship is the highest professional distinction awarded solely to inventors. According to the NAI press release, together, the 2025 class hold more than 5,300 U.S. patents and include recipients of the Nobel Prize, the National Medals of Science and Technology & Innovation, and members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, among others.
They span every major field of discovery, including quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and regenerative medicine, and are tackling the “biggest and most pressing issues” of our time, NAI said.
“Their success in translating research into products and services that improve lives demonstrates the continuing importance of the U.S. patent system,” it added.
Founded in 2012, the Fellowship has grown to include 2,253 distinguished researchers and innovators, who hold over 86,000 U.S. patents and 20,000 licensed technologies.
“Their innovations have generated an estimated $3.8 trillion in revenue and 1.4 million jobs,” the NAI estimates.
“NAI Fellows are a driving force within the innovation ecosystem, and their contributions across scientific disciplines are shaping the future of our world,” NAI President Dr. Paul R. Sanberg is quoted saying.
List of NAI Fellows of Indian origin
Anant Agarwal, The Ohio State University
Aravind Asokan, Duke University
Ahmad Bahai, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sathy Balu-Iyer, University at Buffalo, SUNY
Rohit Bhargava, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Suresh Bhargava, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
Krishnendu Chakrabarty, Arizona State University
Goutam Chattopadhyay, California Institute of Technology & NASA Jet Propulsion Lab
Kapil Dandekar, Drexel University
Deepakraj Divan, Georgia Institute of Technology
Ravi Droopad, Texas State University
Swaroop Ghosh, The Pennsylvania State University
Satyandra Gupta, University of Southern California
Vineet Gupta, University of Texas Medical Branch
Raghu Kalluri, The University of Texas MD Andersen Cancer Center
Raghuraman Kannan, University of Missouri-Columbia
Prasant Mohapatra, University of South Florida
Subba Reddy Palli, University of Kentucky
Dipanjan Pan, The Pennsylvania State University
Chandrakant D. Patel, Hewlett-Packard & University of South Florida
Sanjoy Paul, Rice University
Shashank Priya, University of Minnesota
Srinivasa Raghavan, University of Maryland, College Park
Arijit Raychowdhury, Georgia Institute of Technology
Gurindar Sohi, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Kripa K. Varanasi, Massachusetts Institute of Technology