Lenovo Chairman and CEO Yang Yuanqing, Lenovo’s Yoga folding tablet and two computing achievements by AT&T were recognized as winners in the annual Edison Awards.

Yang received the top individual honor at the awards program on Wednesday night in San Francisco.

It’s the first time the Edison Achievement Award for Innovation has gone to someone “based outside North America.”

Yang lives in North Raleigh. Lenovo, the world’s top PC manufacturer, maintains its global executive headquarters in Morrisville.

Under his stewardship, Lenovo not only has become the top PC seller but also is No. 4 in smartphone sales and is a growing force in mobile Internet devices such as tablets. In January, Lenovo also announced acquisitions worth more than $5 billion involving IBM’s x86 server business and Google Motorola Mobility.

But Lenovo has also emerged as a global leader in innovation, as reflected by two Edison awards for products (a gold and a silver) and more than 30 awards at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

“Every year, the Edison Awards honors one or more individuals who, through their careers, their leadership and their achievements, have distinguished themselves by making a significant and lasting contribution to the world of innovation,” the awards organization says.

“The Edison Achievement Award recognizes and celebrates their contribution to human-centered design, the value and differentiation they create, the positive influence they have on existing, new and emerging markets and the impact they have on the world. This honor is bestowed among the elite serving as an inspiration to future business leaders and innovators.”

The honor is the latest in a growing list for Yang, who moved to the U.S. from China after Lenovo bought IBM’s personal computing division in 2005.

As his biography published by Lenovo notes, “Yang has been named “Business Leader of the Year” by Fortune China (2007), “Businessman of the Year” by Forbes Asia (2008), “Best CEO in China” by Finance Asia (2011), CCTV “Annual Economic Figure” (2004 and 2012) and one of the “World’s 30 best CEOs” by Barron’s magazine (2013). He is also a member of the New York Stock Exchange’s International Advisory Committee, the Brookings Institution International Advisory Council, The Wall Street Journal CEO Council as well as the National Youth Association Committee. He serves as director of China’s Entrepreneurs’ Association and is a guest professor at the University of Science and Technology of China, his alma mater.”

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors and of Space Exploration Technologies, also received an achievement award.

The awards program are named in honor of revolutionary inventor Thomas Edison. Winners are selected by a panel of more than 3,000 business leaders and academics. 

Lenovo also received a gold Edison Award for its Yoga folding tablet. The Yoga was honored as the most innovative computing solution.

Lenovo added a silver award for its 27-inch IdeaCentre Horizon Multimode Table PC.

AT&T, meanwhile, won two golds.

In the Electronic Funding Solutions, AT&T won for its text-to-donate technology. 

In Research and Business Optimization, AT&T was honored for “nanocubes” technology. it’s described as: “a powerful visualization technology that provides users with real-time interactivity of massive datasets. Nanocubes provide better tools for spatiotemporal data analysis, allowing users to look at the macro and micro view of a multi-billion point dataset – all from a computer’s main memory.”

The full awards list can be found online.

The Edison group also posted an interesting biography/photographic timeline of Yang’s career online.