Steps to Becoming a Fellow

Recognizing the achievements of its members is an important part of the mission of the IEEE. The primary function of the IEEE Fellow Program is the recommendation of new IEEE Fellows. The grade of IEEE Fellow recognizes unusual distinction in the profession, and is conferred by the IEEE Board of Directors upon a person with an extraordinary record of accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest.

Any person, including non-members, is eligible to serve as an IEEE Fellow nominator with the following exceptions: members of the IEEE Board of Directors, members of the IEEE Fellow Committee, IEEE Technical Society/Council Fellow Evaluating Committee Chairs, members of IEEE Technical Society/Council Evaluating Committees reviewing the nomination, and IEEE Staff. At the time the nomination is submitted, a candidate must be an IEEE Senior Member who has completed five years of service in any grade of membership and whose membership dues are current. Candidates must have made outstanding contributions to the electrical and electronics engineering profession during their careers in academia, government or industry.

The nominator is responsible for the following activities:

• Preparation of the IEEE Fellow Grade Nomination Form.
• Solicitation of at least five, but no more than eight references who are capable of assessing the candidate's contributions. The references must be IEEE Fellows who are not members of the IEEE Board of Directors, the IEEE Fellow Committee, IEEE Technical Society/Council Fellow Evaluating Committee Chairs, the IEEE Technical Society/Council Evaluating Committee reviewing the nominations, or the IEEE Staff.
• Identification of an IEEE Technical Society/Council Evaluating Committee to assess the candidate's technical qualifications and contributions.

All nomination material is forwarded in confidence to the IEEE Fellow Committee. The IEEE Fellow Committee consists of IEEE Fellows who are selected to represent the 10 IEEE Regions, and who have expertise in the technical areas represented by IEEE Technical Societies/Councils. The main charge of the IEEE Fellow Committee is to recommend Fellow candidates to the IEEE Board of Directors, in accordance with the following criteria:

• Significant contributions as engineer-scientist, technical leader or educator.
• Evaluation by the IEEE Technical Society/Council selected by the nominator.
• Evidence of technical accomplishment, such as publications (including internal company reports), patent and peer recognition. � Confidential opinions of references.
• Service to other professional engineering societies.
• Total years in the profession.

Each candidate is rated numerically on the basis of the above information. In accordance with IEEE Bylaw I-308-2, "the total number of Fellow recommendations in any one year must not exceed one-tenth percent of the total Institute membership, exclusive of Students and Associates, on record as of 31 December of the year preceding."

The IEEE Fellow Committee submits its list of proposed Fellow candidates to the IEEE Board of Directors for approval at its year-end meeting. . The deadline for receipt of complete IEEE Fellow Nominations is 15 March of each year. Nominations received by this deadline are considered for elevation to Fellow grade effective 1 January of the following year.  A detailed description of the online nomination process including downloadable forms and instructions can be found on the IEEE Fellows web page.

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