Houston leads Texas with 7 new National Academy of Inventors senior members
top honor
The University of Houston is now home to seven new senior members of the National Academy of Inventors.
The distinction honors active faculty, scientists and administrators from NAI member institutions that have demonstrated innovation and produced technologies that have “brought, or aspire to bring, real impact on the welfare of society,” according to the NAI. The members have also succeeded in patents, licensing and commercialization, and educating and mentoring.
According to UH, its seven new members represent the largest group from any single Texas institution this year, bringing the university's total senior member count to 46.
UH faculty also represented three of Houston's four new senior members in 2025. Six Houstonians were also named to the NIA's class of fellows late last year.
“This recognition affirms what we see every day at the University of Houston—bold, collaborative innovation focused on improving lives," Ramanan Krishnamoorti, vice president of energy at UH, said in a news release. "Having seven faculty members named Senior Members reflects our momentum and a culture where discovery moves beyond the lab into solutions that strengthen communities and drive economic growth.”
UH’s new senior members include:
- Haleh Ardebili, endowed professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and assistant vice president for Entrepreneurship and Startup Ecosystem. Ardebili develops flexible lithium batteries and holds four patents
- Vemuri Balakotaiah, distinguished university chair and professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering. Balakotaiah holds is patents, with five pending, and develops mathematical models for the clean energy research.
- Jakoah Brgoch, professor of chemistry. Brgoch develops next-generation inorganic materials and holds four patents.
- Jose L. Contreras-Vidal, distinguished professor in electrical and computer engineering and director of UH’s NSF neurotechnology research center. Conreras-Vidal develops brain-machine interface technologies. He holds five patents, with two technologies advancing through clinical trials.
- Preethi Gunaratne, professor in the department of biology and biochemistry and director of the UH Sequencing Core in UH’s College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Gunaratne holds five patents in biology and energy technologies and has made significant large-scale genome discoveries.
- Jae-Hyun Ryou, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. Ryou holds 13 patents and has develops innovative semiconductor materials and devices for flexible electronics.
- Yingcai Zheng, professor in applied geophysics and director of the UH Rock Physics Lab. Zheng's work focuses on energy production, geothermal development and carbon management strategies. He holds two patents.
Other Texas institutions also had strong showings this year. Additional new Texas senior members from NAI institutions include:
Texas A&M University
- Guillermo Aguilar
- Stavros Kalafatis
- Narendra Kumar
- Heng Pan
- Xingyong Song
- Yubin Zhou
Texas State University
- Bahram Asiabanpour
- Martin Burtscher
- Nihal Dharmasiri
- Alexander Kornienko
- Ted Lehr
- Christopher Rhodes
The University of Texas at Arlington
- Brian H. Dennis
- Nicholas Gans
- Frederick M. MacDonnell
- Charles Philip Shelor
- Liping Tang
The University of Texas at San Antonio
- Robert De Lorenzo
- Marc Feldman
- Daohong Zhou
The University of Texas at El Paso
- XiuJun Li
- Yirong Lin
- David Roberson
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
- Thomas John Abbruscato
- Annette Louise Sobel
- Sanjay K. Srivastava
Texas Tech University
- Gerardo Games
- Dy Dinh Le
Baylor University
- David Jack
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
- Upal Roy
This year's class is the largest since the NAI launched its senior member recognition program in 2018. The new senior members come from 82 NAI institutions ad hoe more than over 2,000 U.S. patents. Accoring to the NAI, it has 945 senior members who hold more than 11,000 U.S. patents today.
“This year’s senior member class is a truly impressive cohort. These innovators come from a variety of fields and disciplines, translating their technologies into tangible impact,” Paul R. Sanberg, president of NAI, added in a news release. “I commend them on their incredible pursuits and I’m honored to welcome them to the Academy.”
The Senior Member Induction Ceremony will honor the 2026 class at NAI’s Annual Conference June 1-4 in Los Angeles.
