Brian McClendon talks with the Lawrence Journal-World on Wednesday, April 12, 2017, at the News Center. McClendon, a Lawrence native and University of Kansas graduate, was previously a vice president at Uber and Google, and co-founded Google Earth.

A KU engineering professor who also is one of the creators of the program that became Google Earth has been inducted as a fellow in the National Academy of Inventors.

Brian McClendon, research professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at KU, was one of 162 fellows inducted into the prestigious academy on Tuesday.

McClendon was one of the original investors in Keyhole Inc. in 2001. While McClendon was the company’s vice president of engineering, it created visualization software that became the foundation for Google Earth.

McClendon, a Lawrence native, ultimately served 10 years as vice president of engineering for Google and now holds 40 patents. With his induction, McClendon became the sixth faculty member at KU to become a fellow with the national academy. He is the first from KU since 2018.