Two College Alumni Named Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors
University of Maryland alumni Robert Fischell (M.S. ’53, physics) and Tobin Marks (B.S. ’66, chemistry) have been named 2015 fellows of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).
Fischell is a professor of the practice in the University of Maryland's Fischell Department of Bioengineering. Fischell has had two pioneering careers: one inventing lifesaving medical devices and another helping to create the modern era of space satellites critical to communications, entertainment, business and national security. Fischell holds more than 200 patents, including nearly 30 patents on orbiting spacecraft. In the medical device realm, Fischell has been a leading contributor to the invention of coronary stents, the implantable heart defibrillator, the implantable insulin pump, a device to prevent migraine headaches and a device to prevent death from heart attacks. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and has received numerous awards and recognitions including induction into the Space Technology Hall of Fame.
Marks is the Vladimir N. Ipatieff Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and a professor of materials science and engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University. Marks has made important contributions to invention and innovation in catalytic olefin polymerization and materials for printed electronics. He holds 233 U.S. patents that have been licensed to several major corporations and is a co-founder of the printed electronics startup Polyera Corp. Marks has published 1,195 peer-reviewed articles, books and book chapters and serves on the editorial boards of 10 scientific journals.
Marks is the recipient of the U.S. National Medal of Science, the Dreyfus Prize in Chemical Science, the Prince of Asturias Science and Technology Prize, the National Academy of Sciences Award in Chemical Science, and 105 other awards and lectureships. Marks is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the German and Indian Academies of Sciences.
Marks and Fischell are two of 168 fellows named in 2015, bringing the total number of NAI fellows to 582. The 2015 fellows account for more than 5,300 issued U.S. patents, bringing the collective patents held by all NAI fellows to more than 20,000. These academic luminaries have made a significant impact to the economy through innovative discoveries, creating startup companies and enhancing the culture of academic invention.
Included among all NAI fellows are more than 80 presidents and senior leaders of research universities and non-profit research institutes, 310 members of the other National Academies, 27 inductees of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, 32 recipients of the U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation and U.S. National Medal of Science, 27 Nobel Laureates, 14 Lemelson-MIT prize recipients, 170 AAAS Fellows, and 98 IEEE Fellows, among other awards and distinctions.
The NAI Fellows will be inducted on April 15, 2016, as part of the Fifth Annual Conference of the National Academy of Inventors at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in Alexandria, Va.
Media Relations Contact: Abby Robinson, 301-405-5845, abbyr@umd.edu
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The College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland educates more than 7,000 future scientific leaders in its undergraduate and graduate programs each year. The college's 10 departments and more than a dozen interdisciplinary research centers foster scientific discovery with annual sponsored research funding exceeding $150 million.