Published: Dec. 19, 2017 By

The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) named two CU Boulder faculty members to its class of fellows for 2017.

Distinguished Professor Marvin Caruthers

Professor Marvin Caruthers

Distinguished Professor Marvin Caruthers of CU Boulder’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry was honored for his pioneering contributions to the chemical synthesis of DNA and RNA, making it possible to decode and encode genes and genomes.

Professor Larry Gold of the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology was honored for his DNA and RNA research, which led to the development of new families of drugs.

The NAI elected 155 fellows in 2017, representing research universities and government and non-profit research institutes. The 2017 fellows collectively hold nearly 6,000 U.S. patents.

Caruthers has won many prestigious honors during his career, including election to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was awarded the National Medal of Science in 2006 by President George W. Bush for his contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the science arena. Caruthers also co-founded numerous biotech companies, including Amgen in 1980.

Professor Larry Gold

Professor Larry Gold

A bioscience industry pioneer, Gold is also an elected fellow of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is currently chairman of the board of SomaLogic, one of three biotech companies he has founded while at CU Boulder.

Both Caruthers and Gold are recipients of CU Boulder’s Distinguished Research Lectureship award, one of the highest honors bestowed by faculty on a faculty member.

Those elected to the NAI are inventors on U.S. patents nominated by their peers for outstanding contributions in innovative discovery, technology and positive societal impact.

The 2017 NAI fellows will be honored in April as part of the Seventh Annual NAI conference in Washington, D.C. All 2017 fellows with be presented with a trophy, a medal and a rosette pin.

Three other CU Boulder faculty were previously elected to NAI: Distinguished Professor Kristi Anseth of chemical and biological engineering in 2015; Distinguished Professor Christopher Bowman of chemical and biological engineering in 2016; and Distinguished Professor Leslie Leinwand of molecular, cellular and developmental biology and chief scientific officer for the BioFrontiers Institute, in 2016.