Nominations for ACM Distinguished Engineer/Scientist/Member should be submitted using the Advanced Member Category Submission System for Distinguished Engineer/Scientist/Member online.

There are three subcategories under the Distinguished Engineer/Scientist/Member grade level. Candidates should indicate which category best applies:

1. Distinguished Engineer;
2. Distinguished Scientist;
3. Distinguished Member.

Candidates for Distinguished Engineer/Scientist/Member may nominate themselves, or may be nominated by another ACM member.

Candidates for Distinguished Engineer/Scientist/Member must have been an ACM Professional Member (not Student) for at least five years immediately preceding the final date for submission of nominations. Membership information may be verified by contacting ACM Headquarters at +1-212-626-0500 or acmhelp@acm.org.

The candidate must have had 15 years professional experience. Educational experience is credited toward that time as follows:

• 3 years if the candidate holds a baccalaureate degree
• 4 years if the candidate holds a baccalaureate and masters degree
• 5 years if the candidate holds a doctorate

Criteria for Distinguished Engineer/Scientist/Member:

Successful candidates must demonstrate having achieved a significant accomplishment or having made a significant impact in the field of computing, computer science, and/or information technology. It is expected that the accomplishments proposed in a nomination would reflect one or more of the following:

1. Substantial job responsibility
2. Significant technical leadership
3. Substantial publication and presentation of results
4. Recognized technical and professional awards
5. Significant educational achievements
6. Service to ACM and the computing community

With this context, examples of achievements that would be considered for Distinguished Engineer/Scientist/Member include:

• Responsible for leading the implementation of new technologies, architectures,and/or products
• Demonstrates substantial depth and breadth of understanding of the field, including the creation of new ideas and the synthesis of work by others
• Responsible for significant successful technology transfer
• Serves as a mentor and role model guiding technical career development for other engineers
• Holds patents or other evidence of having developed intellectual property.
• Has contributed to the advancement of the science of computing, and to building the knowledge base within the field of computer science
• Has been published in peer-reviewed scholarly or professional journals
• Exhibits eminence by contributing to the field beyond the norm, including conference presentations or leadership roles within ACM or other organizations
• Has received research awards or grants based on innovative proposals
• Has produced leading research that makes an original contribution to building the community's knowledge base and culture
• Has a proven research publication record
• Demonstrates excellence in teaching
• Devotes exceptional effort to designing, conducting, and evaluation of classroom or other experiences
• Provides innovative learning experience to foster critical thinking, integration and synthesis
• Sets high scholarly standards reflecting current, rigorous knowledge of the computing discipline
• Motivates students to excel and mentors students into professional roles

It is the responsibility of the Nominator to secure agreement from four to eight colleagues in the field to endorse the Candidate. Two of the endorsements must be from current ACM Professional Members. It is recommended, but not required, that the two ACM Member endorsements be from ACM Fellows; ideally, one endorsement should be from a current or past employer, or client, i.e., from someone to whom the candidate has reported or has been, in some way, responsible for the work reported. Endorsers must attest that:

1. they know the candidate and their work;
2. that the candidate accurately described the achievements outlined in the nomination;
3. these accomplishments meet their best understanding of the criteria for Distinguished Engineer/Scientist/Member.

Nominators should upload a copy of the Candidate's CV through the online nomination form at the time of their nomination.

Nominators will be contacted after completing the nomination process, with information on how to proceed. This information will include an encrypted url which you will forward to your endorsers and which will enable them to access the endorsement site. After an endorsement is submitted, the endorser will be sent an email from "distinguished@acm.org" with an encrypted url to confirm the endorsement. Please Note: The confirmation of the endorsement is a requirement and must be completed by the deadline. If you do not receive the email after you submit your endorsement, please contact us at distinguished@acm.org.

Nominations and endorsements for ACM Distinguished Engineer/Scientist/Member should be submitted using the Distinguished Engineer/Scientist/Member Nomination/Endorsement sites by July 31, 2008.

ACM Advanced Member Grade Level Nominations and Endorsments must be submitted in English.

Please consult the "Checklist for ACM Senior Member/Distinguished Engineer, Scientist, or Member Nominations" page for information needed to submit a Distinguished Engineer, Scientist, or Member nomination.

ACM Distinguished Engineers/Scientists/Members will receive a certificate and a specially annotated ACM membership card. There will be an announcement on the ACM Web site and in Communications of the ACM listing the names of the Distinguished Engineers/Scientists/Members. Upon request a letter of commendation will be sent to the chief executive at the Distinguished Engineer/Scientist/Member's place of employment.

If a nominee is not accepted in a given year, the candidate will be notified. Reconsideration of the nomination the following year is permitted but is not automatic.

If a nominee is not accepted two years in a row, a wait of one year is required before that nominee can be considered again.

Resubmission through the Advanced Member Category Submission System is required.

Questions regarding procedures may be directed to distinguished@acm.org or Rosemary McGuinness at mcguinness@acm.org.