Mathias Schubert, one of the world’s foremost innovators in the field of optical ellipsometry, has been elected to the 2025 class of National Academy of Inventors Fellows, the highest honor the organization bestows.
Schubert joins 13 University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty as National Academy of Inventors Fellows. The honor recognizes researchers whose work has been translated into inventions and technologies with societal impact.
Schubert, J.A. Woollam Distinguished Professor of Engineering, has spent 20 years at Nebraska pursuing the greatest challenges that come his way — from ellipsometry to myriad international collaborations.
Though his university faculty webpage lists nine patents and 11 papers that bear his name, Schubert said there have perhaps been hundreds more of each in his lifelong journey from student to toolmaking, to physics, to engineering and to research pioneer.
The idea of being a prolific inventor, Schubert said, is something he has not paid much attention to since joining the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2005.
“To tell you the truth, I have no idea how many patents or papers there are with my name on them. I’m not focusing on that,” Schubert said. “Other people say I should write a patent or a paper for so many things. I tell them I’d rather try this or I want to try that because new things keep popping up on my radar and pursuing those things is what makes my work so exciting.”
