When it comes to research, Washington State University is getting dividends on the fruits of its labor. 

Innovations ranging from the university’s popular Cosmic Crisp apple cultivar and several varieties of wheat to a vaccine administration manual for pharmacies and a microwave-assisted sterilization system for pre-packaged food generated a record $19.4 million in royalty revenues in 2025, according to a release. 

According to data from the Association of University Technology Managers, WSU outperformed many other universities with similarly-sized research portfolios. Among institutions with between $250 million and $499 million in research expenditures, the university had more innovation disclosures, new patent applications and gross licensing income than the median. 

“The bottom line is that WSU is absolutely killing it in terms of its commercialization efforts,” said Jeremy Tamsen, director of the WSU Office of Commercialization, in a statement.  

The university’s Office of Commercialization aims to conduct further outreach among the university’s researchers in the coming year to help bring even more of their ideas and innovations to market.