Frances Arnold, professor at Caltech, was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for her bioengineering and directed evolution research, specifically her patented work on the evolution of enzymes, which offers a wide range of solutions in fields including chemical engineering, bioengineering, medicine, pharmaceuticals, and energy.

This follows other honors she has received for her pioneering research. In recent years, she was a recipient of the ENI Prize in Renewable and Nonconventional Energy, the Charles Stark Draper Prize, and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. She is one of eight scientists, and the only woman, elected to serve concurrently on the National Academy of Science, National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine.

Arnold graduated from Princeton in 1979 with a BSE in mechanical and aerospace engineering. She later received a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of California-Berkeley. After completing postdoctoral positions, she joined the faculty at Caltech. Arnold is currently the Dick and Barbara Dickinson Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, and Biochemistry, and the director of the Donna and Benjamin M. Rosen Bioengineering Center.