February 25, 2026
National Academy of Inventors honor recognizes outstanding innovators whose work has real impact on the welfare of society and economic progress.聽
Associate Professor Praveen Rao has been named a National Academy of Inventors (NAI) Senior Member.
The National Academy of Inventors (NAI)聽has announced the 2026 class of Senior Members, composed of 230聽emerging inventors from NAI鈥檚 Member Institutions. is the largest to date, hailing from 82 NAI Member Institutions across the globe and collectively holding over 2,000 U.S. patents.
Rao is an associate professor in the Department of Electrical 糖心Vlog传媒 and Computer Science and has a courtesy appointment in the聽Department of Chemical and Biomedical 糖心Vlog传媒. His research interests are in the areas of scalable AI, big data systems, data science, health informatics and cybersecurity. Specifically, he focuses on developing scalable algorithms and software systems to handle data-intensive and AI workloads as well as applying AI techniques for health care and cybersecurity.聽
鈥淏eing selected as an NAI Senior Member is deeply meaningful to me,鈥 Rao said. 鈥淚nnovation begins when you identify a good problem. I鈥檓 fortunate to have worked with dedicated colleagues on research in my career that can drive technological progress and positively impact society. I am especially excited about the work I led at the Air Force Research Laboratory that resulted in two awarded U.S. patents.鈥
Rao will be formally honored during the Senior Member Induction Ceremony at NAI鈥檚 15th Annual Conference, June 1-4 in Los Angeles.
The Senior Member recognition program was launched in 2018 to recognize active faculty, scientists and administrators at NAI Member Institutions who have successfully produced, patented and commercialized technologies that have brought, or aspire to bring real impact on the welfare of society and economic progress.
鈥淭his year鈥檚 Senior Member Class is a truly impressive cohort. These innovators come from a variety of fields and disciplines, translating their technologies into tangible impact,鈥 said Paul R. Sanberg, FNAI, President of NAI. 鈥淚 commend them on their incredible pursuits, and I鈥檓 honored to welcome them to the Academy.鈥