Meet the 2025 Class of National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductees

Starting this year with exciting news, our team at the National Inventors Hall of Fame^® has proudly announced our newest class of world-changing Inductees.

Since 1973, when the Hall of Fame was co-founded in partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, we have inducted patent-holding inventors whose work has made all our lives easier, safer, healthier and more fulfilling. Our 2025 Inductee Class is made up of inspiring creators, innovators and entrepreneurs who represent a wide array of backgrounds and accomplishments. We are thrilled to introduce you to this class of visionaries, and we look forward to honoring their legacies and sharing their stories for years to come.

Read on to meet the 2025 National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductees!

John R. Adler Jr.

CyberKnife^® Stereotactic Radiosurgery

Neurosurgeon John Adler’s invention enabled precision robotic, image-guided therapeutic radiation without skeletal fixation. Today, the CyberKnife is used around the world to noninvasively ablate tumors and other abnormal lesions anywhere in a patient’s body. By 2018 more than 1 million patients had been treated by CyberKnife globally, and multiples more have been treated by subsequent derivative technologies.

Karl Bacon and Ed Morgan

Tubular Steel Track Roller Coaster

Karl Bacon and Ed Morgan, two self-taught engineers, set the standard for roller coaster design technology when they developed the world’s first tubular steel track roller coaster, Matterhorn Bobsleds, which debuted at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, in 1959. Their design offered smoother, quieter rides and paved the way for future innovations like longer drops, loops, corkscrews and other features that were previously too dangerous or even impossible to create.

Tom Blake

Surfboard Design

Tom Blake designed, built and patented the first lightweight, hollow surfboards and paddleboards – some of the earliest boards to be commercially produced, beginning in the 1930s. A record-breaking swimmer and surfing pioneer, Blake helped make surfing more accessible and more popular, provided a vital tool for ocean lifeguards and influenced the future of board design.

Emil J Freireich and George Judson

Continuous-Flow Blood Cell Separator

Oncologist Emil J Freireich and engineer George Judson developed the first continuous-flow blood cell separator, introduced in the 1960s. Today, blood cell separators are used by blood banks, hospitals and laboratories worldwide. Machines based on this invention have been vital for improving outcomes for leukemia patients and developing new approaches to treating cancer and other diseases.

James Fujimoto, David Huang and Eric Swanson

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)

James Fujimoto, David Huang and Eric Swanson invented OCT, a method for imaging layers of body tissue in unprecedented detail. Introduced in the 1990s, OCT doesn’t require contact with the tissue being imaged, making it especially useful for rapidly and painlessly examining the retina. In addition to revolutionizing ophthalmology, OCT also is used in cardiology and across a growing range of applications in the medical field and beyond.

Barney Graham and Jason McLellan

Structure-Based Vaccine Design

Immunologist and virologist Barney Graham and structural biologist Jason McLellan used structure-based vaccine design to stabilize and modify surface proteins of viruses. They successfully applied their discoveries to the development of COVID-19 vaccines, contributing to billions of vaccine doses administered worldwide since 2020. The first vaccines approved for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) also are based on their work.

Kerrie Holley

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)

Kerrie Holley pioneered SOA, a software architecture and programming model for large enterprises. Guiding the creation and use of business processes, packaged as services, and defining the information technology infrastructure that allows applications to participate in these processes, SOA has benefited organizations across many industries. A precursor to cloud services, SOA allows for “future-proofing,” ensuring organizations can respond swiftly to changing technology needs.

Virginia Holsinger

Dairy Product Innovations

Virginia Holsinger made healthier dairy products accessible worldwide. Her research on enzymes and digestion not only advanced the dairy industry, beginning in the 1970s, but also improved nutrition in American schools and international food donation programs and created the foundation for Lactaid^® brand products, making milk digestible by those with lactose intolerance.

Pamela Marrone

Biological Pest Control

Entrepreneur and entomologist Pamela Marrone has developed and brought to market effective, environmentally responsible, nature-based products for pest management and plant health since the 1980s. An industry leader, she enthusiastically champions the use of biological pesticides (biopesticides) and educates the public about their benefits.

Virginia Norwood

Multispectral Scanner

Virginia Norwood invented the Multispectral Scanner (MSS), the first in a series of satellite-based instruments that have been continuously imaging our planet for decades. Launched in 1972 aboard Landsat 1, the MSS was the first satellite designed to study the Earth’s surface. It has provided invaluable data and sparked a revolution in remote sensing technology.

C.R. Patterson

Carriages

Charles Richard (C.R.) Patterson was an inventor and entrepreneur who founded a successful carriage company, C.R. Patterson & Sons Co. Known for quality work and fine craftsmanship, Patterson’s business evolved to become the first and only Black-owned and operated automobile company in the United States, helping to shape the burgeoning automotive industry.

Richard Schatz

Palmaz-Schatz Coronary Stent

Cardiologist Richard Schatz collaborated with fellow National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductee Julio Palmaz to invent a vascular stent suitable for treating coronary artery disease. Since 1988, the Palmaz-Schatz coronary stent and its derivatives have been used to treat millions of patients throughout the world, significantly reducing mortality and morbidity while also lowering healthcare costs.

Learn More About Our 2025 Inductees

These life-changing inventors will officially join the National Inventors Hall of Fame family at our 2025 Induction Ceremony in Washington, D.C., on May 8.

As we look forward to this inspiring annual event, we invite you to explore our website to learn more about each of our newest Hall of Fame Inductees.