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`IEEE About the IEEE Fellow Program
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`About the IEEE Fellow Program
`
`On this Page:
`
`IEEE Fellow is a distinction
`reserved for select IEEE members
`whose extraordinary
`accomplishments in any of the IEEE
`fields of interest are deemed fitting
`of this prestigious grade
`elevation. Review the sections on
`this page to learn about the history
`of the IEEE Fellow grade, the elevation process, and how the program evolved
`through the years to become the program it is today.
`
`Establishment of the IEEE Fellow Grade
`Early years of the IEEE Fellow grade
`Merger of AIEE and IRE
`IEEE Fellow Grade Today
`
`Establishment of the IEEE Fellow Grade
`
`The grade of Fellow first appeared in the AIEE constitution of 1912. In that
`year, the AIEE revised its membership structure and established the grade of
`Fellow for those engineers who had demonstrated outstanding proficiency and
`had achieved distinction in their profession. Potential Fellows had to be at least
`thirtytwo years of age, with a minimum of ten years' experience. When the
`IRE established its Fellow grade in 1914, the requirements were clearly
`modeled on those of the AIEE. Much of the wording in the relevant sections of
`the IRE constitution is identical to the corresponding wording in the AIEE
`constitution.
`
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`Early years of the IEEE Fellow grade
`
`For the first several years after the establishment of the Fellow grade, both the
`AIEE and the IRE allowed members to make direct application for transfer to
`Fellow. In both cases, applications had to be accompanied by references from
`five existing Fellows and required the approval of the Board of Directors. In
`1939, the IRE modified its procedure to make admission or transfer to the
`Fellow grade possible only by direct invitation of the Board of Directors, a
`policy it maintained until the merger in 1963. In 1938, the AIEE modified its
`constitution to provide that "Applications to the grade of Fellow shall result only
`from a proposal of five members or Fellows." In 1951, the AIEE prohibited
`applications for Fellow grade altogether, and adopted a policy of direct
`invitation similar to that of the IRE.
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`Merger of AIEE and IRE
`
`As noted above, numerous electrical engineers were members of both the AIEE
`and the IRE, and many of them became Fellows of both organizations. When
`the two institutes merged in 1963, all AIEE and IRE Fellows automatically
`became Fellows of the IEEE. In 1942, the IRE had begun to issue citations to
`new Fellows, briefly describing their accomplishments. The AIEE followed suit
`in 1952, and the IEEE continued the practice after the merger.
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`IEEE Fellow Grade Today
`
`As it stands today, the IEEE Grade of Fellow is conferred by the Board of
`Directors upon a person with an extraordinary record of accomplishments in
`
`http://www.ieee.org/membership_services/membership/fellows/index.html
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`IEEE About the IEEE Fellow Program
`
`any of the IEEE fields of interest. The total number selected in any one year
`does not exceed onetenth of one percent of the total voting Institute
`membership. Each new Fellow receives a beautifully matted and framed
`certificate with the name of the Fellow and a brief citation describing the
`accomplishment, a congratulatory letter from the incoming IEEE president and
`a gold sterling silver Fellow lapel pin with antique finish.
`
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`http://www.ieee.org/membership_services/membership/fellows/index.html
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`2/2
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`Columbia Ex 2037-2
`Symantec v Columbia
`IPR2015-00375