FAES scientist Katrina Cornish recently was named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.
Cornish, who holds the Endowed Chair in Bio-based Emergent Materials and is an Ohio Research Scholar, was one of two inductees — along with Vice President for Research Caroline Whitacre — from Ohio State in 2015.
NAI Fellows are nominated by their peers for outstanding contributions to innovation.
“We at Ohio State are extremely proud of the accomplishments of Drs. Whitacre and Cornish. Their contributions to innovation are superb examples of the positive impact that the university has on society,” said Bruce McPheron, Ohio State’s interim executive vice president and provost. Before being named to his current position, which began Dec. 2, 2015, McPheron was dean of CFAES.
Since joining Ohio State in 2010, Cornish has submitted 26 invention disclosures, 15 with student co-inventors, and 12 of the pending patents have been licensed to private industry. She has had tremendous impact on the development of alternate natural rubber sources and applications. Her issued and pending patents span a range of fields, including transgenic enabling technologies, plant utility patents, process engineering, value-added materials, sustainable fillers, and medical products and devices.
Cornish holds appointments in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science and the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering.