UA researcher named Senior Fellow of National Academy of Inventors

Dr. George Chase — professor of chemical, biomolecular and corrosion engineering at UA — has been named a Senior Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the organization announced on Feb. 11. Chase was originally inducted into the NAI in 2011.

NAI Senior Members are active faculty, scientists and administrators from NAI Member Institutions who have demonstrated remarkable innovation producing technologies that have brought, or aspire to bring, real impact on the welfare of society. They also have growing success in patents, licensing and commercialization.

The ability to nominate an individual for NAI Senior Member recognition is an exclusive opportunity afforded solely to NAI Member Institutions to recognize their outstanding innovators. These organizations themselves are widely regarded as innovation powerhouses which continuously promote and foster the spirit of innovation.

Recognition for innovations and entrepreneurial spirit

“Personally, it is gratifying to receive recognition for your work from peers and colleagues,” says Chase. “Being a Senior Fellow provides opportunities within the entrepreneur community locally and nationally. Most important to me is the message that faculty researchers at UA are recognized for their innovations and entrepreneurial spirit.”

Chase, who has been teaching at UA since 1985, is listed as an inventor on 15 patents. His areas of research include multiphase flow phenomena, flows throughout porous media, filters and filtration, nanofibers and electrospinning, coalescence of droplets in liquid aerosols and in liquid dispersions. At UA, he is also president of the University of Akron Research Foundation and interim director of research initiatives, among other appointments.

Lifetime of achievement

Chase has received several honors and awards from science organizations and UA, including the Lifetime Achievement and Senior Scientist awards from the American Filtration and Separations Society. In 2009, he was inducted as a Fellow in the American Filtration and Separations Society. Chase has been recognized as a STEM Exemplar by the Ohio Academy of Science and received the Outstanding Researcher Award from UA’s College of Engineering and Polymer Science.

During his academic career, Chase has received federal funding from such organizations as the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Department of Defense/U.S. Army and the Department of Energy to support his research. In 2004, he was on a seven-member faculty research team that received a $1.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation for a nanofiber manufacturing project. Chase participates in industrial research as director of the Coalescence Filtration Nanofibers Consortium at UA, a position he has held for over 24 years.

A Northeast Ohio native, Chase earned doctorate and bachelor’s degrees in chemical engineering from UA. He also served in the U.S. Army Reserves and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Chase is among 61 academic inventors named to the 2021 class of NAI Senior Members. This latest class represents 36 research universities, government and non-profit research institutes. They are named inventors on over 617 issued U.S. patents.

Following a nomination for NAI Senior Member, individuals undergo a rigorous selection process by the NAI Advisory Committee, which is composed of elected NAI members and other professionals considered pioneers in their respective field. 

Senior Members are elected biannually, and nominations are accepted on a rolling basis. Nominations are currently being accepted for the next Senior Member class.

A full list of NAI Senior Members is available on the NAI website.