University of Georgia professors Scott NeSmith, Anumantha Kanthasamy and S. Edward Law have been elected Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors. Including these three new Fellows, 12 UGA faculty have received this honor, all of them since 2013.
NAI Fellows must be involved in creating or facilitating inventions that make a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and welfare of society. Becoming an NAI Fellow is the highest professional distinction awarded solely to academic inventors. According to the organization, $3 trillion in revenue has been generated based on NAI Fellow discoveries. NAI Fellows’ research and entrepreneurship have resulted in more than 42,700 issued U.S. patents, 13,000 licensed technologies and 3,200 new companies — not to mention more than 1 million jobs created, according to NAI.
“As a National Academy of Inventors (NAI) director and Fellow, I am thrilled to welcome our newly elected Fellows to the NAI,” said Karen Burg, UGA vice president of research.
“Scott NeSmith, Ed Law and Anumantha Kanthasamy represent the breadth in application that exists across the UGA research enterprise,” Burg said. “Dr. Kanthasamy’s research has tremendous potential to bring new treatments and hope to those suffering from Parkinson’s disease; Dr. NeSmith’s work in developing new blueberry varieties helped establish Georgia as one of the leading U.S. states in blueberry production; and Dr. Law’s development of electrostatic spraying technologies boosted Georgia agriculture before being applied in other economic sectors — including to disinfect surfaces during the Covid-19 pandemic. Congratulations to Anumantha, Scott and Ed on this well-deserved recognition of their efforts in research and invention.”