UGA has 19 faculty members who have received this honor since 2012
University of Georgia professors John Ruter and Yajun Yan have been elected Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors, bringing UGA’s total to 19 faculty members who have received this honor since 2012. It is the seventh consecutive year the university has had faculty elected.
Election to NAI Fellowship is the highest professional distinction accorded to academic inventors. Fellows are recognized for prolific innovation that has had tangible impacts on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society.
“The election of John Ruter and Yajun Yan as National Academy of Inventors Fellows highlights the depth and breadth of innovation taking place at the University of Georgia,” said Chris King, interim vice president for research. “Their work reflects the university’s commitment to translating discovery into practical solutions that benefit society, strengthen our partnerships with industry and create meaningful impact that’s measured both in dollars and enhanced quality of life for people in Georgia and beyond.”
John Ruter
Ruter, the Allan Armitage Endowed Professor of Horticulture in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and director of the UGA Trial Gardens, is a globally recognized leader in ornamental plant breeding and development. He develops novel ornamental cultivars through advanced breeding techniques focused on improved plant aesthetics, resilience and sustainability. His work has resulted in 30 issued U.S. plant patents, with additional domestic and international patents pending, all of which have been licensed to industry partners. These cultivars have generated nearly $750,000 in royalties and are widely used across the ornamental horticulture industry.
“Becoming a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors is quite an honor,” Ruter said. “I enjoy developing and patenting new ornamental plants and seeing the positive impact that they have on the nursery and landscape industries. Gratitude is indeed expressed to those staff, graduate students and student workers who have helped me over the years, as well as support from the Innovation Gateway at UGA.”
Along with inventing, Ruter is engaged with mentoring graduate students and is involved in educating community through outreach programs like Experience UGA, the Trial Gardens and other cooperative extension programs. Ruter is a Fellow of the American Society for Horticultural Science and the Southern Region International Plant Propagators’ Society and has received numerous honors including the Julian C. Miller Senior Distinguished Research Award from the American Society for Horticultural Science, the UGA Inventor of the Year Award, the Plant Licensing Innovation Award from UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the D.W. Brooks Faculty Award for Excellence in Research.
Yajun Yan
Yan, professor of biochemical engineering in the College of Engineering, is a leader in industrial metabolic engineering, synthetic biology and biochemical engineering, with research focused on developing sustainable microbial processes for the production of valuable natural and industrial compounds. He is named as an inventor on 24 UGA invention disclosures, which have resulted in 13 U.S. and four foreign patents, with the majority licensed to multiple companies.
Among Yan’s innovations is a scalable, sustainable microbial process for producing 5-hydroxytryptophan, the precursor to serotonin, a natural compound used in nutritional supplements and animal health applications. Through his discoveries, Yan has formed the foundation for two startup companies, BiotecEra and Genedartec, securing more than $20 million in investment between the two, creating more than 50 jobs and establishing robust commercial product pipelines.
Yan has been recognized for his research, teaching and entrepreneurial impact with honors such as the UGA Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the American Heart Association National Scientist Development Award, the NIH Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award for Established Investigators, the Lowry H. Gillespie Jr. Engineering Curriculum Enhancement Award and UGA’s Award for Excellence in Research in Engineering.
“This recognition is a profound honor that affirms the significance of my research in advancing synthetic biology and metabolic engineering toward more sustainable and impactful biomanufacturing solutions,” Yan said. “It reflects the collective efforts of my students, collaborators and institutional support at UGA and reinforces the broader societal impact of our work in enabling greener pathways for producing chemicals, materials and medicines.
“Most importantly, it motivates me to continue pushing the boundaries of interdisciplinary research and translating fundamental discoveries into technologies that address global challenges.”
Ruter and Yan will be formally inducted as Fellows on June 4 at the 15th NAI Annual Conference in Los Angeles.
