May 24, 2023
Dear AAAI Member,
Each year the AAAI recognizes as Fellows a few individuals who have made significant, sustained contributions to the field of artificial intelligence. On behalf of the Fellows Selection Committee, I invite you to nominate a member of the AAAI to become a new Fellow.
The Fellows program, as originally chartered, honors a small percentage of the AAAI membership for providing intellectual leadership and making significant research or service contributions to the field over many years. AAAI Fellowship is a lifetime honor.
The AAAI Fellows program intends to recognize individuals each year who have made outstanding contributions to the theory or practice of AI. Contributions may occur within one or more settings, including industry, government, and academia. Both individual technical contributions and significant extended service to the field are considered in the selection process. Fellows’ contributions may include substantial efforts leading to the fielding of AI technology. Evidence of technical contributions are typically in the form of technical results and publications, but other forms of evidence include outstanding contributions to academic, government, and industrial group efforts, patent awards, and notable software.
Nominees must be current members of AAAI with active membership for the past (3) consecutive years or lifetime members. Nominees must have demonstrated a history of engagement with the AI community and AAAI. Usually, only members who have contributed to the field for a decade or more after receiving their Ph.D. (or are at an equivalent career stage) will be selected.
Fellows are selected by a Fellows Selection Committee comprising nine current Fellows and chaired by the immediate past president of AAAI. One-third of the committee members are replaced each year. The Executive Council reviews the policies governing the operation of the Fellows Committee at their council meetings.
If you wish to nominate someone, please complete the nomination form, and find two additional people who are willing to write letters of reference. Please direct them to the reference form. The nominator or one of the people providing a reference must be a AAAI Fellow who is a current member. The list of AAAI Fellows who are members is available at Current AAAI Members Who Are Fellows. References from researchers who are relatively independent of the nominee (that is, not thesis advisors, students, coauthors, or colleagues from the same institution) carry the most weight, as do references that do not merely repeat the content of the nomination. Notes on the forms indicate restrictions on form and length.
Please ensure that your nomination and reference materials arrive at the AAAI office by September 22, 2023. We cannot accept anything received after that date. We will acknowledge receipt of nominations, but the nominee will not be contacted by us in case you wish to keep the nomination confidential. Final decisions on the candidates will become available in January 2024, and Fellows will be officially welcomed at a dinner for Fellows held at the AAAI-24 conference.
Nominators will be told of the result of the decision for any nomination(s) they made. For an unsuccessful nomination that was submitted, a nominator will have the choice of withdrawing the nomination to wait until a more appropriate time, updating the nomination for the following year with another reference letter, or with a revised nomination form to make the case more strongly, or leaving the nomination unchanged for consideration for next year. For all three options, the nominator must notify AAAI of their preference.
Unsuccessful nominations that the nominator does not explicitly renew will be retired. (Note that nominators can elect to renew nominations for up to two additional years after an unsuccessful nomination.)
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us at fellows@aaai.org. We look forward to your participation in this important program.
Sincerely,
Bart Selman
Chair, AAAI Fellows Selection Committee