Samuel Prien, a professor of reproductive physiology and assisted reproduction in Texas Tech’s Department of Animal & Food Sciences, has been named to the 2021 class of Fellows for the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the organization announced today (Dec. 7). He will be inducted during the NAI Fellows induction ceremony in June as part of the 11th annual meeting of the National Academy of Inventors.

“I’m truly humbled by this recognition,” Prien said. “It recognizes not just me, but everyone who has passed through my lab over the last 25 years, where we have tried to improve assisted reproductive techniques for individuals struggling with infertility, as well as improve production techniques in animals, making them more accessible to the farmer and rancher, and improving their profitability and sustainability as they try to feed a hungry world.”

Prien, who also holds a joint appointment in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the School of Medicine at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC), was elected to the NAI's inaugural class of senior members in 2019. He currently holds five U.S. patents, 20 international patents and three copyrights. His first U.S. patent was for a method of collecting and preserving semen, which was Texas Tech's first patent focused on reproductive science, a patent that has reached the marketplace via a license agreement between Texas Tech and Reproductive Solutions Inc.

“Professor Sam Prien is a highly valued member of the faculty both at Texas Tech and TTUHSC,” said Joseph Heppert, vice president for research and innovation in the Office of Research & Innovation. “My sincere congratulations go out to Sam for this recognition, and for the many other accomplishments during his distinguished career.”

Prien earned his bachelor's degree (1978) and master's degree (1980) in botany and his doctorate in animal sciences in 1991, all from Texas Tech. He has held his appointment with TTUHSC since 1992, has served as the Director of the Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology Laboratories at TTUHSC since 2010 and as Director of Research in the department since 2003.

The NAI Fellows Program highlights academic inventors who have demonstrated a spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society. Election to NAI Fellow is the highest professional distinction accorded solely to academic inventors.

To date, NAI Fellows hold more than 48,000 issued U.S. patents, which have generated more than 13,000 licensed technologies and companies and created more than 1 million jobs. In addition, more than $3 trillion in revenue has been generated based on NAI Fellow discoveries.

CONTACT: Chance Brooks, Interim Chair and Professor, Department of Animal & Food Sciences, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2808 or chance.brooks@ttu.edu

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