Earl Blumenauer: “last Friday evening I had the opportunity and the honor of attending a ceremony where the Lemelson Foundation awarded…”

“last Friday evening I had the opportunity and the honor of attending a ceremony where the Lemelson Foundation awarded the annual Lemelson MIT Prize for Innovation, held for the first time in Portland, Oregon. The foundation was established by one of the most prolific American inventors, the late Jerome Lemelson, and his family. Although located in Portland, the foundation is truly international in scope. Jerome Lemelson endowed the foundation to promote innovation and to ensure that its application benefited humankind. In the United States, their unique foundation supports several grantees whose programs celebrate extraordinary inventors as role models, illustrate the value of invention in the evolution of a great society, and nurture young adults to solve pressing social problems by pursuing careers in invention. This year the foundation awarded a $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize, the largest cash award for innovation, to Elwood ``Woody'' Norris for revolutionizing acoustics. Internationally, the Lemelson Foundation nurtures individual creativity to transform fundamental challenges into opportunities for sustainable progress. Its Invention for Sustainable Development program recognizes inventors and innovators in developing countries, fostering the institutions that support them, and applies their inventions to meet basic human needs and advance sustainable development.…”