Abstract :
Each year, the IEEE Board of Directors elevates a group of the Institute´s Senior Members to the grade of Fellow. This election is a great honor because, according to the IEEE Bylaws, the Fellow grade is one of ??unusual professional distinction, to be conferred upon a person of outstanding and extraordinary qualifications and experience in the fields of electrical engineering, electronics, radio, allied branches of engineering, or the related arts and sciences, who has made important individual contributions to one or more of these fields.?? The key words in this definition of the Fellow grade are ??outstanding?? and ??extraordinary.?? According to the Bylaws, no more than 0.6 percent (revised upward in 1976 from 0.5 percent) of IEEE Senior Members may be elected Fellows in any one year; moreover, the annual number of elected Fellows may not exceed 0.1 percent of the Institute membership exclusive of Students and Associates. Translated, this means that, over the last decade, there had never been more than 127 Fellows elected in any one year until 1976, when the previously mentioned Bylaw revision permitted a maximum of 133 elections.
