Congratulations to QCB Associate Director Rohit Bhargava on being named to the 2025 Class of National Academy of Inventors Fellows, one of  169 U.S. distinguished academic and institutional inventors and 16 International Fellows to receive the honor. The 2025 Class of Fellows will be honored and presented their medals by a senior official of the United States Patent and Trademark Office at the NAI 15th Annual Conference on June 4th, 2026, in Los Angeles.

NAI Fellowship is the highest professional distinction awarded solely to inventors. Together, the 2025 class hold more than 5,300 U.S. patents and include recipients of the Nobel Prize, the National Medals of Science and Technology & Innovation, and members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, among others. This year’s 169 U.S. Fellows represent 127 universities, government agencies, and research institutions, across 40 U.S. states.

Bhargava, a professor of bioengineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, is Phillip and Ann Sharp Director of the Cancer Center at Illinois and holds the Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering. In addition, he is affiliated with the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Science and Engineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Chemistry as well as the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.

Jean-Pierre Leburton, Gregory Stillman Emeritus Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Emeritus at Illinois was also named a 2025 NAI Fellow.