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These Alums Are So Inventive, They’re in the Hall of Fame!

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By Melissa Newcomb

You may not have heard of the National Inventors Hall of Fame—but now that you have, you’ll be unsurprised to hear that Cornellians are well represented among its inductees. After all, founder Ezra Cornell was himself an inventor: devising a plow that could dig (and then refill) a trench to lay telegraph wire was his entrée into the industry that would make his fortune.

Founded in 1973, the hall has the dual purpose of celebrating inventors’ achievements—from famous names like Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell to those who are lesser known—while inspiring the next generation of creative minds.

The organization is headquartered in Ohio but runs a museum in Alexandria, VA. Of the hall’s more than 600 inductees, 26 have Big Red ties—as alumni, faculty, postdocs, visiting researchers, and others.

Pamela Marrone.
New inductee Pamela Marrone ’78.

The latest to be inducted: Pamela Marrone ’78, a member of the hall’s Class of 2025.

A scientist and entrepreneur who holds a doctorate from North Carolina State, the former CALS entomology major has devoted her career to fostering the creation of biologically based pesticides—ones that protect agricultural crops while being less toxic to the environment.

Based in California, she has founded several companies and brought numerous products to market, including two leading bio-based fungicides.

And in addition to her professional accomplishments, Marrone has been an active alumna: she was elected by her fellow alums to the Board of Trustees in 2016 and has served on the University Council, among other volunteer work.

Here’s a look at 11 other Cornell alums in the hall—and their ground-breaking creations:

Eric Betzig, PhD ’88

High-resolution microscopy

A doctoral alum in applied physics, Betzig co-invented a super-high-resolution imaging technology called photoactivated localization microscopy (PALM). It broke the limits that standard microscopes had faced for almost a century, allowing biologists to look inside cells at a previously unachievable level of detail. A professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley, Betzig shared a 2014 Nobel Prize in chemistry with two other researchers.

Eric Betzig.

Willis Carrier.
Rare and Manuscript Collections

Willis Carrier, ME 1901

Air conditioning

Carrier transformed the way we stay cool by developing the formulas and equipment that make air conditioning possible. Just a year after graduating with a master’s in electrical engineering, he installed an air conditioning system in a Brooklyn printing plant, using his method of correlating temperature and humidity to create a comfortable atmosphere—still the basis for calculations in the modern HVAC industry. He and other engineers founded what’s now the multi-billion-dollar Carrier Engineering Corporation in 1915.


Harry Coover, PhD ’44

Superglue

Working as a research chemist for Eastman Kodak during World War II, Coover tried to use cyanoacrylates—a class of chemicals with powerful adhesive properties—to produce a clear plastic for precision gunsights.

While the chemicals were too sticky for that purpose, he recognized their potential as an ultra-strong adhesive. Today, Superglue is used to close wounds, enhance fingerprints, bond teeth, and much more.

Harry Coover.

Wilson Greatbatch.
Rare and Manuscript Collections

Wilson Greatbatch ’50

Implantable pacemaker

Greatbatch matriculated on the Hill after military service in World War II (recalling in his memoir that “after all that time in the dive bombers, it was such a joy to wander around the campus, to go to class and to learn something”). The electrical engineering alum went on to save untold lives through his invention of the implantable cardiac pacemaker, which regulates the heartbeat via an electrode. First used in 1960, pacemakers are now implanted into more than 500,000 patients annually.


Leroy Grumman 1916

Advances in aviation

Grumman’s 1932 invention of folding airplane wings allowed the military to more than double the number of aircraft that could fit on a carrier. The mechanical engineering alum and former U.S. Navy pilot also designed retractable landing gear that was safer and more reliable than previous equipment. He founded Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp., which grew to be one of the nation’s largest defense contractors, and served as a University trustee.

Leroy Grumman.
Rare and Manuscript Collections

His gifts to his alma mater included support for Grumman Hall on the Engineering Quad, as well as the Grumman Squash Courts.

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Robert Langer Jr.
Wikimedia Commons

Robert Langer Jr. ’70 

Controlled drug delivery

The winner of numerous major awards during a long and distinguished career, Langer holds more than 1,400 patents. His development of a controlled drug delivery system has facilitated treatment of diseases such as brain tumors.

Langer has co-founded more than 40 companies, including the major pharmaceutical firm Moderna, and heads a leading biomedical engineering lab at MIT. In 2023, his alma mater honored him with Cornell Engineering’s Distinguished Alumni Award.

Then-Provost (now Interim President) Mike Kotlikoff lauded Langer as “one of the most creative, brilliant, and influential alumni in Cornell’s history.” 


Thomas Midgley Jr., ME 1911

Improved engine fuel

Midgley’s scientific legacy is complicated. In the 1910s, he created tetraethyl lead gasoline, which allowed high-performance engines to operate more efficiently—preventing the damaging “knock” that occurs when fuel burns in the cylinders unevenly. The following decade, he developed Freon, a game-changing refrigerant. And while both achievements were notable advances in their time, they each proved to have devastating environmental impacts—in the form of harmful lead pollution and damage to the Earth’s ozone layer.

Thomas Midgley Jr.

Robert Moog.
Rare and Manuscript Collections

Robert Moog, PhD ’65

Musical synthesizer

Six decades ago, Moog—then a doctoral student in engineering physics—electrified the music world by inventing a synthesizer capable of producing a wide range of electronic sounds. It unlocked endless possibilities, making way for a revolution in the music industry—and new directions for such artists as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Grateful Dead. His Moog Synthesizer became the centerpiece of electronic music labs at universities around the world—while instrumentalists flocked to a smaller, portable version known as the Minimoog.


Gregory Pincus 1924

Birth-control pill

The former biology major changed women’s lives—and helped usher in the sexual revolution—by spearheading development of the first effective oral contraceptive, which works by suppressing ovulation.

The FDA approved the debut version, dubbed Enovid, in 1960. While controversial at the time, “the pill” remains one of the most popular family planning methods, boasting a 98% effectiveness rate when taken as prescribed. 

Gregory Pincus.
Wikimedia Commons

Alice Stoll.
Society of Women Engineers Photograph Collection, Walter P. Reuther Library

Alice Stoll, MS ’48

Fire-resistant fabrics

Stoll helped protect the military, fire fighters, race car drivers, and many others by informing the development of fabrics that are inherently fire resistant—which, she proved, are far more effective than ones that are merely treated with flame retardant.

She established a method to chart the heat levels and duration required to produce second-degree burn injuries and tested more than 200 materials using a device she created to measure their heat resistance.

She ultimately showed that a particular synthetic polymer has superior resistance because it thickens and carbonizes to absorb heat—rather than transmitting it to the wearer—making it the industry standard.

A U.S. Navy veteran, Stoll earned a master’s in physiology and biophysics from what’s now Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences.


Ching Wan Tang, PhD ’75

A better LED

Tang co-created the organic light-emitting diode (OLED), which is used in the digital displays found in tech like computers, cell phones, cameras, and TVs. An improvement on traditional LEDs, OLEDs—which appear in products made by major companies like Apple, Google, Sony, Motorola, and Samsung—offer better power efficiency, longer battery life, and increased display quality. Tang, who earned a doctorate in physical chemistry on the Hill, is a professor emeritus at the University of Rochester.

Ching Wan Tang.
National Inventors Hall of Fame

Top: Photo illustration by Caitlin Cook / Cornell University. (All inventor head shots provided, unless otherwise indicated.)

Published January 29, 2025


Comments

  1. Dan Dovdavany, Class of 1996

    What about Robert C. Baker, the Cornell University poultry science and food science professor who helped develop chicken nuggets, turkey ham, and poultry hot dogs?

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