IEEE FELLOW CANDIDATE EVALUATION COMMITTEE

Have you ever wondered how an IEEE member becomes an IEEE Fellow? The following description of the process can be found on the IEEE Fellow Program Web Site: “The grade of IEEE Fellow recognizes unusual distinction in the profession and shall be conferred only by invitation of the Board of Directors upon a person of outstanding and extraordinary qualifications and experience in IEEE-designated fields, and who has made important individual contributions to one or more of these fields. The year of election to the grade of Fellow is the year following affirmative action by the Board of Directors in conferring the grade of Fellow. A brief citation is issued to new Fellows describing their accomplishments and the total number selected in any one year does not exceed one-tenth percent of the total voting Institute membership.”
For 2004, the following NPSS members were first evaluated by the NPSS Fellow Committee and elected IEEE Fellows: Grant T. Gullberg, Erik H.M. Heijne, Spencer P. Kuo, Jean-Luc B. Leray, Patrick G. O’Shea, and Wu-Tsung (Bill) Weng. Also, the following NPSS members were first evaluated by other IEEE societies and elected IEEE Fellows: Jerome J. Blair, Michael B. Silevitch and Richard M. Leahy. We proudly congratulate these newly elected IEEE Fellows. Their biographical sketches and descriptions of their accomplishments will appear in a future NPSS Newsletter.

Almost anyone can serve as a nominator of a candidate for IEEE Fellow grade; you do not even have to be an IEEE member. But, for perhaps obvious reasons, the following cannot be nominators: members of the IEEE Board of Directors, members of the IEEE Fellow Committee, chairs and members of IEEE Technical Society/Council Fellow Evaluating Committees, or IEEE Staff.

Who is eligible to be nominated? The following requirements are from the IEEE Fellow Program Web Site: “To be nominated, the candidate must meet the following three basic qualifications: hold Senior Member grade at the time the nomination is submitted; be an ‘active’ member (that is, dues must be current); and must have completed five years of service in any grade of IEEE membership. Note: IEEE affiliate membership within an IEEE society does not apply.”

The deadline for receipt of the Fellow Nomination Forms and Reference letters is the 15th of March. Nominating forms, detailed instructions, and frequently asked questions can be found at the IEEE Fellow Program Web Site. Perhaps the easiest way to get to this site is by going to: www.ieee.org, clicking on “Membership,” then clicking on “Key Membership URLs,” and finally clicking on “Fellow Program.”
A nomination must be supported by at least five, but no more than eight references from active IEEE Fellows. A list of IEEE Fellows can be found at the IEEE Fellow Program Web Site or in the current IEEE Membership Directory.

We urge you to consider making an IEEE Fellow nomination next year!

Ronald Jaszczak, Chair, NPSS’s IEEE Fellow Candidate Evaluation Committee, can be reached at the Department of Radiology, DUMC-3949, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710; Phone: +1 919 684-7685; Fax: +1 919 684-7122; E-mail: rjj@dec3.duhs.duke.edu.