Professor Jesse Wainright ’83, MS ’84, PhD ’92, a specialist in electrochemistry, and Professor Robert Brown, a pillar of the Department of Phys-ics, will be inducted into the National Academy of Inventors this summer. The pair will join the academy as fellows, the highest distinction awarded to academic inventors.

The two long-time Case professors were among 185 inventors nationwide selected for the honor in December. They join two dozen of their CWRU colleagues who have earned the recognition since it was created in 2012.

Wainright, a research professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, is being honored for his achievements in electrochemical systems, an historic strength of the Case School of Engineering. He earned three degrees in chemical engineering from Case Institute of Technology. After a foray into industry, he joined Professor Robert Savinell’s lab as a post-doctoral researcher, launching a decades-long collaboration.

Many of Wainright’s 24-plus patents sprang from work with Savinell, who was named an NAI fellow in 2023, and Professor Gary Wnek, a 2024 fellow. Their research has explored iron flow batteries and how to store excess wind and solar-generated energy, which would improve the power grid.

In a university press release, Wain-right said he’s proud CWRU has been able to license his technology, and that companies have found it valuable, but that he most cherishes the time he spends teaching and guiding students.

Brown, a distinguished university professor and the institute professor of physics, is renowned on campus as an innovation catalyst. His name is attached to at least 16 patents across multiple industries—including his most recent patent awarded in 2025, his 55th year on the faculty. Meanwhile, former students hold at least 250 U.S. patents, according to the university.

Brown helped create a sensor for engines that could better predict their eventual failure, as well as a disease-detection device for malaria, an invention that earned a “Patent for Humanity” from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

In addition, Brown played key roles in the launch of at least eight startups, including Quality Electrodynamics, a hugely successful Cleveland company founded by his former student, Hiroyuki Fujita, MS ’98, PhD ’98.

The new fellows will be recognized at the academy’s 15th annual conference in Los Angeles on June 4, 2026.