President Bottomly Recognized for Outstanding Contributions to Innovation

President H. Kim Bottomly has been named a Fellow by The National Academy of Inventors (NAI). She is among 170 distinguished innovators named to this year’s NAI Fellow status.

According to an NAI press release, “Election to NAI Fellow status is a high professional distinction accorded to academic inventors who have demonstrated a highly prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society.”

Individuals elected to the rank of NAI Fellow are named inventors on U.S. patents and were nominated by their peers for outstanding contributions to innovation in areas such as patents and licensing, innovative discovery and technology, significant impact on society, and support and enhancement of innovation.

A renowned immunobiologist, and the first scientist to lead Wellesley College, President Bottomly is listed as an inventor on three patents, all of which provide methods and compositions for treating or preventing allergic reactions, particularly anaphylactic reactions.

Bottomly’s research has focused on the molecular and cellular factors that influence the initiation of immune responses. She has written more than 170 peer-reviewed articles and served on numerous scientific and medical committees and advisory boards. In 2009, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 2008, the University of Washington designated her as among their ‘Wondrous 100,” one of the top 100 alumni of the past century.

The NAI 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.” Today, there are 414 NAI Fellows representing more than 150 prestigious research universities and governmental and non-profit research institutions. Collectively, these individuals hold nearly 14,000 U.S. patents.

President Bottomly and the other NAI Fellows in this year’s class were officially inducted during the 4th Annual Conference of the National Academy of Inventors at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena in March.