The 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 eight years are eligible for consideration. The years of membership need not be consecutive. 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 inaugural class of Fellows was elected in 2015.

Nominations that are not successful in their first year will be automatically carried over for two additional years, after which they must be refreshed by a new submission, or they will be dropped from consideration.

All nominations are subject to the following rules:

1. Only one new Fellow nomination for each nominator per year is allowed.
2.  Members of the SoR Fellowship Committee should not be involved in nominating a candidate.
3. The SoR officer (president or past president) who appointed the SoR Fellowship Committee is prohibited from nominating.
4. SoR President, Vice President, and Past President are ineligible to be nominated while serving on the Executive Committee.

Nomination Guidelines and Submission

Election Mechanism

The SoR Fellowship Committee shall be appointed by the President in conformity with the rules of the Society. The Committee shall consist of five members who have achieved the status of Fellow. The members will serve staggered terms of three years. The President shall appoint one of the five members to act as Chair of the Committee.

The SoR Fellowship Committee shall consider, in a manner consistent with procedures established by the Executive Committee, nominations submitted by any member of the Society by a designated Friday around March 15th. At a designated time, usually prior to the Spring Executive Committee meeting, the Chair of the SoR Fellowship Committeeshall convey its recommendation (the list of new Fellows) to the President and to the Secretary of the Society. The President in turn shall transmit the recommendation to the Executive Committee for approval. The official announcement of the election to the new Fellows and to the membership shall be made by the Secretary in advance of the actual recognition at the Annual Meeting. The dates outlined in this paragraph shall be adjusted as necessary in those years in which the International Congress of Rheology is held outside of North America.

The Society of Rheology is a diverse community, actively committed to 'promoting diversity, equity and inclusion among all of our members' as well as seeking to 'understand and remove barriers to diversity, equity and inclusion in our community, as well as obstacles to professional growth and advancement of our membership'. As such, nominations from members belonging to groups traditionally underrepresented or underrecognized in our community are particularly encouraged. The Awards Committees are committed to engaging in the selection processes from the pool of nominees without bias or discrimination, and to recognizing outstanding contributions to the field of rheology, regardless of the nominee's race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender and gender identity, physical appearance and ability, socioeconomic background, region, and immigrant, military, or veteran status.