BGU first Israeli university to become member of US National Academy of Inventors

The Beersheba institution of higher learning was recognized as being one of the 100 leading universities in the world for the number of applied US patents.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Students at Hebrew University (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Students at Hebrew University
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has accepted the invitation of the US National Academy of Inventors to become an official associate member.
“We appreciate your innovative institution and your researchers, and we are excited to accept you as a member of the NAI,” the academy’s founder and president, Prof. Paul R. Sanberg, said.
The academy has associate member universities in seven countries outside the US, and BGU will be the first in Israel, BGU president Prof. Rivka Carmi said on Sunday. “We are proud to receive the invitation as recognition of our achievements. It will help us innovate and promote applied research.”
In 2013, the Beersheba institution of higher learning was recognized as being one of the 100 leading universities in the world for the number of applied US patents. Having many such patents, said Carmi, reflects the “spirit of fruitful innovation through unusual inventions that have a tangible influence on the quality of life, economic development and the welfare of the society.”
The NAI includes more than 3,000 inventors at 200 institutions.
It was founded four years ago by Sanberg, who is executive director of the University of South Florida’s Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair.
The academy’s aims are to enhance the visibility of university and nonprofit research institute technology and academic innovation; encourage the disclosure of intellectual property; educate and mentor innovative students; promote the translation of the inventions of its members to benefit society; and increase public exposure to technology and innovation based in academic institutions.