For the past 25 years, the Lemelson-MIT Program has given an annual $500K prize to a mid-career inventor whose work offers a significant value to society, for improving lives and communities, and has been adopted or has a high probability of being adopted for practical use. The 26 inventors celebrated over the last 25 years demonstrate the significant impact people can have in the world and serve as role models for young inventors, including those participating in the Lemelson-MIT Program’s invention education and Student Prize programs.
Lemelson-MIT Prize Retrospective Project
The Lemelson-MIT Program and The Lemelson Foundation believe that the work of the 26 winners provide compelling evidence of the positive social and economic impact of invention. We have asked the RAND Corporation to provide a careful and impartial assessment of the value provided to society by the inventions of recipients of the Lemelson-MIT Prize. The analysis will consider impact in aggregate across all prize winners and through case studies of the prize winners from three particular years. The report will be supplemented by interviews with six winners describing their lived experiences. The case studies are being prepared by History Associates. We anticipate a release date for both the report and the case studies on National Inventors’ Day, February 11, 2021. Please sign-up here to be notified of the release and other related events.