LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – John Schroeder, a professor in the Department of Geosciences at Texas Tech University, has been named to the National Academy of Inventors Class of 2025 Fellows.
NEWS RELEASE: Schroeder Named to 2025 Class of National Academy of Inventors
Schroeder founded the Texas Tech University Hurricane Research Team in 1998 and serves as senior director of the National Wind Institute. He becomes the 14th faculty member from Texas Tech to earn the honor. The university has had at least one faculty member named an NAI Fellow in each of the past 10 years.
The 2025 class will be honored at the NAI’s 15th Annual conference in June in Los Angeles.
“It’s been quite a journey throughout my career,” Schroeder said. “I’ve been open to exploring new ideas as my career has evolved, and I’ve been fortunate to partner with a talented research team in the National Wind Institute.”
Hurricane research innovations
Schroeder designed the Wind Engineering Mobile Instrumented Tower Experiment ruggedized instrument tower, which researchers first deployed in 1998 to measure hurricane winds. The towers collected wind speed and direction data at multiple levels, as well as temperature, barometric pressure and relative humidity.
He was instrumental in developing portable mesonet towers that were used until the National Wind Institute developed the current StickNet method of data collection in 2006. StickNet platforms allow for greater collection of wind datasets from the landfall region and are rapidly deployable.
Schroeder has also been involved in developing new radar systems to measure low-level wind fields. His team pioneered the use of radar to solve engineering-relevant problems, which resulted in numerous patents and led to a commercialization effort that impacted the wind energy industry worldwide.
National recognition
Joseph Heppert, vice president for Research & Innovation, said Schroeder is “one of the rare innovators who can say his inventions have impacted millions of lives.”
“His research is critical to how we understand and prepare for atmospheric hazards,” Heppert said.
The 2025 class of NAI Fellows includes 169 researchers representing 127 research universities and governmental and non-profit research institutions worldwide. The class holds more than 5,300 U.S. patents on innovations making significant societal and economic impacts.
Since its founding in 2012, the NAI Fellows program has grown to include 2,253 researchers and innovators who hold more than 86,000 U.S. patents and 20,000 licensed technologies. Their innovations have generated over $3.8 trillion in revenue and created 1.4 million jobs.
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