Nominations are closed for the
2024 IRI Innovation Excellence Awards

Have you submitted your nominations for individuals and teams pushing the boundaries to set new organizational standards in innovation?

The IRI Innovation Excellence Awards represent an unwavering commitment to innovation and pushing the boundaries to set new organizational standards in research and development. These awards honor organizations and individuals whose outstanding vision and tireless pursuit of excellence are already impacting our lives today and shaping the industries of tomorrow.

Companies of all sizes and industries are encouraged to participate. Additionally, consultants and university partners are encouraged to nominate their colleagues to recognize their accomplishments. Deadline to submit is February 15, 2024!

Award winners will be announced on May 16, 2024 at Innovators Summit!

IRI Innovation Leadership Award (Individual) 

This award celebrates visionary leaders whose exceptional contributions and transformative influence have significantly advanced the landscape of innovation.

IRI Excellence Award for Innovation in Sustainability (Company) 

The IRI Excellence Award for Innovation in Sustainability is designed to recognize recent outstanding achievements and projects that have made a meaningful impact and significant contribution to sustainability efforts in their organization or industry.

IRI Excellence Award for Outstanding Innovative Culture (Company)

The Excellence Award for Outstanding Innovative Culture recognizes organizations that foster inclusive, diverse, equitable, and psychologically safe workplaces – cultivating an environment where innovation thrives. It honors companies championing upskilling and professional development to ensure their teams’ adaptability and success in a rapidly changing world.

IRI Excellence Award for Digital and Technological Innovation (Company)

The IRI Excellence Award for Digital and Technological Innovation recognizes outstanding achievements in the development or application of digital and technological solutions. The award seeks to inspire innovation and encourage organizations and teams to push the boundaries of what’s possible in their respective industries.

IRI Excellence Award in Scientific Advancement (Company)

The IRI Excellence Award in Scientific Advancement is presented annually to innovation teams that have demonstrated remarkable leadership and accomplishment in scientific advancements.

IRI Promising Young Innovation Professional Award (Individual)

The IRI Promising Young Innovation Professional Award recognizes individuals 35 and under at the time of nomination who have already begun to make an impact in the field of innovation in their organization, inspiring others to follow in their footsteps.

Who should enter the IRI Innovation Excellence Awards? This program is for you if:

  • You’re an innovator using technology to improve operational performance or become more sustainable
  • You have created a more collaborative, engaged office culture that celebrates innovation.
  • You have a high-performing leader (or up-and-coming leader) driving your sustainability initiatives
  • You are a consultant or university partner working on an exciting new project with a company to do any of the above.

Nominations are being accepted through February 15th, 2024.  Questions? Reach out to Victoria Kanevsky for additional information.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2023 AWARDS RECIPIENTS!

It is with great pleasure that we announce the winners of the 2023 IRI Excellence Awards and the IRI Innovation Leadership Award. These honor the outstanding achievements and contributions of IRI’s member organizations across several categories. Congratulations to our 2023 Award Winners!

Dr. Alexa Dembek (DuPont)

IRI Innovation Leadership Award

For her  exceptional leadership and vision in driving innovation and transformation, resulting in significant contributions to her organization, industry, and society. Her work at DuPont has set the standard for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) leadership.

Michelman

IRI Excellence Award for Corporate Citizenship Award

For strong commitment to sustainable chemistry in the design of their products and technologies, and for establishing partnerships with other organizations to drive sustainable innovation.

Lam Research Corporation

IRI Excellence Award for Culture of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award

For their robust programs supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion, and for creating a workplace where all employees feel welcomed, respected, safe, and valued.

The Lubrizol Corporation

IRI Excellence Award for Digital and Technological Innovation

For the development of Q.life, a virtual testing and data analytics system that enables the company to rapidly develop and launch new products, reduce costs, and improve efficiency.

DuPont

IRI Excellence Award for Member Engagement

For demonstrating exceptional commitment to engaging with and contributing knowledge to the IRI community, and advancing the field of innovation management.

PPG Industries

IRI Excellence Award for Scientific Advancement

For the development of Copper Armor Antimicrobial (in partnership with Corning Incorporated), a breakthrough product in the paint industry and a valuable tool in reducing the spread of diseases.

Holland Award Crystal

Maurice Holland Award Recipients

D. Bruce Merrifield (1982) Warren R. Stumpe (1983) George E. Manners, Jr., Joseph A. Steger, Thomas W. Zimmerer (1984) Robert A. Frosch (1985) Richard N. Foster, Alan M. Kantrow, Lawrence H. Linden, Roger L. Whiteley (1986) Harry W. Coover (1987) Roland W. Schmitt (1988) Lester C. Krogh, Julianne H. Prager, David P. Sorensen, John D. Tomlinson (1989) Albert C. Perrino, James W. Tipping (1990) Robert G. Cooper (1991) Walter L. Robb (1992) Graham R. Mitchell (1993) C. K. Prahalad (1994) Robert G. Cooper (1995) Mark R. Gallon and Harold M. Stillman (1996) Deb Chatterji (1997) Sheldon A. Buckler (1998) John Seely Brown (1999) William C. Herbein, Robert C. Morris, and Gregory R. Smith (2000) Ian C. MacMillan and Rita Gunther McGrath (2001) Marc H. Meyer and Paul C. Mugge (2002) Robin A. Karol, Ross C. Loeser, and Richard H. Tait (2003) Jeffrey T. Glass, Ingrid M. Ensing, and Gerardine DeSanctis (2004) Jay Paap and Ralph Katz (2005) Miles P. Drake, Nabil Y. Sakkab, and Ronald Jonash (2007) Raymond R. Cosner, E. Jefferson Hynds, Alan R. Fusfeld, Carl V. Loweth, Charles Scouten, and Richard Albright (2008) Paul B. Germeraad and Ronald P. Taylor (2009) Seongkeun Jang, Yongki Yoon, Inseong Lee, and Jinwoo Kim (2010) William Banholzer (2011) Bilal Kaafarani and Jane Edison Stevenson (2012) Peter Toft, Bill Crandall, and Paul Henderson (2013) Ray O. Johnson and John D. Evans (2014) Abhijit Ganguly and James Euchner (2015) Anita Friis Sommer, Christian Hedegaard, Iskra Dukovska-Popovska, and Kenn Steger-Jensen (2016) Emily B.Kennedy and Thomas A. Marting (2017), Andrew Harrison (2018), Robert Cooper and Anita Friis Sommer (2019); Sihem Ben Mahmoud-Jouini, Didier Boulet, and Sebastian Fixson (2020); Pam Henderson, Terry Rosenstiel, and Kent Young (2021); Kah-hin Chai, James Nebus, Annapoornima S. Subramanian (2022); Dirk J Primus (2023)

IRI medal

Previous IRI Medalists (Legacy Award)

Willis Rodney Whitney (1946) Charles Allen Thomas (1947) Garnes Slayter (1948) Vannevar Bush (1949) Frank Baldwin Jewett (1950) Randolph Thomas Major (1951) Roy Chester Newton (1952) Eger Vaughan Murphree (1953) Mervin Joe Kelly ( 1954) Ernest Henry Volwiler (1955) Victor Conquest (1956) Clifford Fred Rassweiler (1957) Elmer William Engstrom (1958) Frank Koch Schoenfeld (1959) Augustus Braun Kinzel (1960) Max Tishler (1961) Chauncey Guy Suits (1962) James Brown Fisk (1963) Ray Harold Boundy (1964) Edwin Herbert Land (1965) Paul Lawrence Salzberg (1966) Emanual Ruben Piore (1967) John Hans Dessauer (1968) Patrick Eugene Haggerty (1969) William Oliver Baker (1970) Henri Busignies (1971) Peter Carl Goldmark (1972) William Earl Shoupp (1973) Robert William Cairns (1974) James Hillier (1975) Hendrik B.G. Casimir (1976) John J. Burns (1977) Malcolm E. Pruitt (1978) Arthur M. Bueche (1979) Lewis H. Sarett (1981) Wm. Houston Armistead (1981) N. Bruce Hannay (1982) Edward E. David Jr. (1983) Harry W. Coover (1984) Ralph E. Gomory (1985) George E. Pake (1986) Ian M. Ross (1987) Abraham B. Cohen (1988) Roland W. Schmitt (1989) Edward M. Scolnick (1990) Mary L. Good (1991) John S. Mayo (1992) George H. Heilmeier (1993) Walter L. Robb (1994) John J. Wise (1995) Robert A. Frosch (1996) Donald E. Elson (1997) Arno A. Penzias (1998) John Seely Brown (1999) Gordon F. Brunner (2000) Phillip Needleman (2001) Charles W. Deneka (2002) Lewis S. Edelheit (2003) John W. Miley (2004) Paul M. Horn (2005) David O. Swain (2006) Nabil Y. Sakkab (2007) Ralph Snyderman (2008) Norman R. Augustine (2009) Nicholas M. Donofrio (2010) Uma Chowdhry (2011) F. Emil Jacobs (2012) Robert S. Langer (2013) George M. Whitesides (2013) Joseph DeSimone (2014) Subra Suresh (2015) Peter H. Diamandis (2016) Vinton G. Cerf (2016) Henry Chesbrough (2017) Joichi Ito (2017) Yann LeCun (2018)
Leroy Hood (2019), David Wineland (2020), Demis Hassabis (2021)
Achievement Award Bird

IRI Achievement Award Past Recipients (Legacy Award)

William F. Gresham (1974) William G. Pfann (1975) Maurice R. Hilleman (1976) LeGrand Van Uitert (1977) Robert H. Wentoff, Jr. (1978) Frank B. Colton (1979) Stanley D. Stookey (1980) Andrew H. Bobeck (1981) Robert N. Noyce (1982) Herbert W. Boyer (1983) John W. Backus (1984) Allan S. Hay (1985) John E. Franz (1986) Robert D. Maurer (1987) Howard G. Rogers (1988) Alfred Yi Cho (1989) Robert H. Dennard (1990) Leonard S. Cutler (1991) Victor Mills (1992) Richard H. Frenkiel (1993) Marvin M. Johnson (1994) Marinus Los (1995) Andrzej M. Pawlak (1996) Stephanie L. Kwolek (1997) Simon F. Campbell (1998) James E. West (1999) Harry W. Coover (2000) C. Don Bateman (2001) George H. Beall (2002) Madan M. Bhasin (2003) Edith M. Flanigan (2004) Dennis M. Richie ( 2005) Paul D. Trokhan ( 2006) Rakesh Agrawal (2007) Dean L. Kamen (2008) Ashok J. Joshi (2009) Linden Blue (2010) Richard Hayes (2011) John J. Curro (2012) Charles “Chuck” Hull (2015), Tan Le (2018)