National Inventor's Hall of Fame
Display of inductees in the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Alexandria
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| Abbreviation | NIHF |
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| Formation | 1973 |
| Type | NPO |
| Legal status | Organization |
| Purpose | "Honor[ing] the women and men responsible for the great technological advances that make human, social and economic progress possible." |
| Headquarters | 3701 Highland Park N.W. North Canton, Ohio 44720 |
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Region served
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United States |
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Membership
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547 inventors |
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Official language
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English |
| Affiliations | Invent Now America |
| Website | www.invent.org |
The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) is an American not-for-profit organization which recognizes individual inventors who hold a U.S. patent of highly significant technology. Founded in 1973, its primary mission is to "honor the people responsible for the great technological advances that make human, social and economic progress possible." Besides the Hall of Fame, it also operates a museum in Alexandria, Virginia and a middle school in Akron, Ohio, and sponsors educational programs, a collegiate competition, and special projects all over the United States to encourage creativity among students.
As of 2017[update], 547 inventors have been inducted, mostly constituting historic persons from the past three centuries, but including about 100 living inductees. An NIHF committee chooses an annual inductee class in February from nominations accepted from all sources. Nominees must hold a U.S. patent of significant contribution to the U.S. welfare, and which advances science and useful arts. The 2017 class included 15 inventors, including Howard Head for skis and tennis rackets, and Augustine Sackett for drywall.
The National Inventors Hall of Fame was founded in 1973 on the initiative of H. Hume Mathews, then the chairman of the National Council of Patent Law Associations (now the National Council of Intellectual Property Law Associations). In the following year, it gained a major sponsor in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from Washington, D.C.
At first, the Hall was housed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, D.C., near the Washington National Airport but it soon needed more room at a more prominent location. A committee was formed in 1986 to find a new home for it. For a time, the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was the frontrunner. But in 1987, a patent attorney from Akron, Edwin “Ned” Oldham, the representative from the National Council of Patent Law Associations, led the drive to move the Hall to Akron. According to Maurice H. Klitzman, one of the founding members of the Board of Directors, because of the guaranteed financial support by the city of Akron that greatly exceeded any other community's proposal, the Board selected Akron as the new home. The construction of the new building was finished in 1995 and the Hall opened to the public with the name of the Inventure Place.
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