ISU's Patrick Schnable elected to National Academy of Inventors

AMES, Iowa (December 11, 2025) - Early in his career as an agronomy professor, Patrick Schnable started wondering if he could build a startup from his plant genetics research. He knew it was common at some institutions, but it didn't seem to come up often on his own campus. He wasn't even sure it was allowed.

He soon found it wasn't just permissible. It was encouraged. Interested faculty could carve out a portion of their time to work on entrepreneurial activities, if necessary, while using university labs, equipment and other facilities for reasonable rates. The support was palpable and, crucially, it was clear. It helped set Schnable on a path that led to his induction into the National Academy of Inventors, an honor the academy announced Dec. 11.

"The most important thing was the attitude that this is a good thing for faculty to be doing," Schnable, C.F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor and Iowa Corn Endowed Chair in Genetics, recalled about his first steps into business-building.

In the decades since, he said, the emphasis on turning Iowa State innovation into real-world market solutions has grown, as has the infrastructure that nurtures and sustains entrepreneurship.

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Originally published by Iowa State University in December 2025.