The National Inventors Hall of Fame is proud to celebrate its Inductees whose accomplishments have contributed to society in remarkable ways during Black History Month 2026. These inventors have advanced the spirit of innovation in both tangible and intangible ways through their inventions that change lives and inspire others to pursue their dreams.

Among the notable Hall of Fame Inductees to be celebrated this February are:

• Marian Croak, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Technology. 

Engineer Marian Croak has worked on advancing VoIP technologies, converting voice data into digital signals that can be easily transmitted over the internet. Her work has allowed VoIP to become a practical reality by enabling reliability and high quality. Today, VoIP technology is vital for remote work and conferencing, as well as personal communications.

• Kerrie Holley: Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA).

Kerrie Holley pioneered service-oriented architecture (SOA), a software architecture and programming model for large enterprises. Guiding the creation and use of business processes, packaged as services, and defining the information technology infrastructure that allows applications to participate in these processes, SOA has benefited organizations across many industries.

• James A. Parsons Jr.

Durimet 20 Stainless Steel Alloy. Metallurgist James A. Parsons Jr. created corrosion-resistant, stainless steel alloy Durimet 20. Invented in the 1930s, the alloy is still widely used today in industrial processes that involve corrosive chemicals.
 
For more information on these and other world-changing Hall of Fame Inductees,

click here.