Wichita State University Provost and Senior Vice President Tony Vizzini has been chosen as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) for his numerous scientific and academic contributions.

Election to NAI Fellow status is a high professional distinction, according to the NAI, one that is accorded to academic innovators like Vizzini “who demonstrate 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.”

With the organization’s newly elected members, there are a total of 414 NAI Fellows, representing more than 150 research universities and governmental and research institutions.

Included in the roster of NAI Fellows are 61 presidents and senior leaders of research universities and nonprofit research institutes, 208 members of other National Academies, 21 inductees of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, 16 recipients of the U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation, 10 recipients of the U.S. National Medal of Science, 21 Nobel Laureates, 11 Lemelson-MIT prize recipients and other distinctions.

Vizzini has been active as an engineer even while advancing to his current position as an administrator at Wichita State, producing work in more than 100 scientific publications and seven book chapters and securing one U.S. patent. He has been recognized in the past with an Exceptional Achievement Award from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, as a fellow for the American Society for Composites and as an associate fellow for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Vizzini’s specific research and innovations include: developing a low-cost test method for composite materials in the helicopter industry; developing a revolutionary inverted class in statistics, the first of any engineering curriculum in the National Center of Academic Transformation; and inventing an adjustable low-flow, high pressure regulator for deep-shore drilling.

“Dr. Vizzini has contributed immensely to the field of aerospace engineering,” WSU President John Bardo said. “His far-reaching leadership, dedicated professionalism, vision for future research directions, hardworking and sincere attitude and unparalleled care for the faculty, students and colleagues he continues to inspire and lead has put him in a unique position.”

Vizzini and the other NAI Fellows will be inducted during the 4th Annual Conference of the National Academy of Inventors on March 20, at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

At the ceremony, Vizzini will be presented with a trophy, a medal and a rosette pin in honor of his accomplishments by the Deputy U.S. Commissioner for Patent Operations, from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Additionally, a plaque listing his name and Wichita State’s will be placed on permanent display at the USPTO, along with other NAI Fellows. He will also be featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Jan. 16, 2015 issue and in upcoming issues of Inventors Digest and Technology and Innovation.