Linder named National Academy of Inventors Fellow

University of Nebraska Interim President James Linder, M.D., has been named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

Linder is among 170 Fellows being named this year, bringing the total to 414. The Fellows represent more than 150 prestigious research universities and governmental and non-profit research institutions from around the country. Election to National Academy of Inventors Fellow status is a high professional distinction accorded to academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific 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.

John Woollam, George Holmes Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, also has been named a Fellow this year.

Linder is an accomplished academic entrepreneur with extensive public- and private-sector experience. Prior to becoming interim president, he was the senior associate to the NU president for innovation and economic competitiveness and president of the University Technology Development Corp. In that role, he led university-wide efforts to promote innovation, public-private partnerships, technology development and commercialization. He previously served as CEO of UNeMed Corp., the technology transfer arm of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where he also is a professor of pathology and microbiology.

Linder is chief medical officer at Roche Diagnostics Hematology of Boston. His expertise is in applying new technology to medical diagnostics, including immunodiagnostics, telemedicine and cellular imaging. His research is featured in more than 150 publications and he is a named inventor on more than 40 patents. Linder is an active mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs; he and his wife, Karen, founded and manage Linseed Capital, an angel fund that invests in early-stage companies in the Midwest. The Linders received the 2014 Entrepreneurship Leadership Award from Pipeline, a community of entrepreneurial leaders building high-growth companies throughout the Midwest. The Linders also founded Tethon3D, a leader in ceramic additive manufacturing.

This year’s National Academy of Inventors Fellows will be inducted on March 20, 2015, at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

This is the third consecutive year that the University of Nebraska is represented among new Fellows. Previously, Brian Larkins, associate vice chancellor for life sciences and professor of agronomy and horticulture; Prem Paul, vice chancellor for research and economic development; James Van Etten, William Allington Distinguished Professor of Plant Pathology and co-director of the Nebraska Center for Virology; and Donald Weeks, Maxcy Professor of Agriculture and Natural Resources – all from UNL – were inducted.