Message from the President
Dear Membership of the SOR:
The SOR Executive Committee, pursuant to Article VIII of the Rules of the Society, has proposed the creation of a status of Fellow of the Society. The membership is being asked to vote
on the rules change listed below that would create the status of Fellow of the Society. The purpose of the creation of the Fellowship status is to recognize members of The Society of
Rheology who have a history of distinguished scientific achievement, a significant technological accomplishment, and/or outstanding scholarship in the field of Rheology. A record of
continued service to the Society is also an important component to Fellowship status. SOR members in good standing for at least 8 years are eligible for the award.
We have proposed a straight-forward Nomination Procedure for Fellows should the ballot measure pass:
The nomination packet should include (1) a letter of no more than two pages describing the nominee’s scientific accomplishments and service contributions in the field of Rheology,
(2) the nominee’s current curriculum vita, (3) a list of five important publications and/or patents, (4) up to two additional letters of support.
Submit all nominations and supporting documents to the Award Committee Chair by February 1st.
Because there currently is not a pool of Fellows, we have included in the ballot a means of creating such a pool by recognizing past presidents of the Society, named members of the
Executive Committee (Secretary, Treasurer, and Editor) and Bingham Medalists. Importantly, current members of the Executive Committee are not eligible to become Fellows until two
years after leaving the committee. In examining SOR records there are approximately 33 members who are eligible for this initial selection. The initial pool of Fellows will serve
as the resource to the SOR President who will appoint the Fellowship Selection Committee from the pool of Fellows. Finally, in the creation of the fellowship status, we have also
put into the rules change that Fellows at the age of 75 years automatically become Fellow Emeritus. This is still a status of Fellow but does not count against the 5% limit on the
total number of fellows in the society.
We have spent significant effort to consider the fellowship rules change that is presented below and ask that you vote for the creation of the status of Fellow of The Society or Rheology.
The ballot is endorsed by your Executive Committee.
Sincerely,
Greg McKenna
President, SOR
Gareth McKinley
Vice President, SOR
Ballot for Rules Amendments
To be added to ARTICLE VII – Awards of the Rules:
Section 7
SOR Fellowship status recognizes a history of distinguished scientific achievement, a significant technological accomplishment, and/or outstanding scholarship in the field of Rheology.
Service to the Society is also an important component to Fellowship status. SOR members in good standing for at least 8 years are eligible for the award. Fellowship status will be awarded
no more often than annually and to no more than 0.5% of the membership in any given year.
The total number of Fellows in the society will not exceed 5% of the membership. The distribution of Fellows should reflect the professional associations of the membership (e.g., academic,
government, industrial). A Fellowship Committee (provided for in Section 8 of this ARTICLE) shall make selection of the new Fellows, subject to approval by the Executive Committee.
Fellowship selection will be recognized at the Annual Meeting of the Society.
Members of the Executive Committee cannot be nominated to the status of Fellow for at least two years after leaving the Executive Committee, though present Fellows can serve on the Executive
Committee. Society Fellows who have reached the age of 75 will be classified automatically as Emeritus Fellows and will not be included in the total Fellows count.
Section 8
The President shall, each year, appoint sufficient members for staggered terms of three years to the Fellowship Committee. The committee will be made up of five members who have achieved the
status of Fellow. In addition, the President shall appoint one of the five members to act as Chair of the Committee for that year.
In addition, to address the issue of “Should some people be made Fellows immediately?”, we also ask that the Membership vote to grant the following people the status of Fellow of The Society
of Rheology, assuming that they are currently active members of the Society (these would form the inaugural class or pool of Fellows):
The initial class of Fellows must have met all of the stated eligibility requirements, and will be comprised of:
-
All living past presidents of the SOR not including the current president or the immediate past president.
-
Past members of the SOR Executive Committee who have held named positions (i.e., Secretary, Treasurer, and Editor) but not including members-at-large.
-
Past recipients of the Bingham medal.
Any members of the Inaugural Class of Fellows who exceed the age of 75 are inducted as Fellows and will transition to the title of Emeritus Fellow after one year.
Per ARTICLE VIII of the Rules of SOR, the voting site will be closed after 2 July 2015.