PMI Fellow Award

The PMI Fellow Award is the highest and most prestigious individual award presented by Project Management Institute for service to the Institute and the project management profession.

Nomination Deadline

The “Call for Nominations” begins 1 November each year. The deadline to submit nominations is as follows:

• 1 March – PMI Professional Awards (includes: PMI Project of the Year, PMI Award for Project Excellence, PMI Fellow Award, PMI Eric Jenett Project Management Award of Excellence, PMI Linn Stuckenbruck Person of the Year Award, and PMI Young Professional Award)

Eligible

• The nominee must be a current PMI member in good standing.
• Eligibility differs for each award. PMI affiliation may or may not be required for a nominee, or nominated project.

Not Eligible

• Self-nomination is not permitted.
• Acts performed under contract to PMI, directly or indirectly, will not be considered.
• Current PMI staff, contractors and/or consultants are not eligible to apply for an award.
• Current sitting members of PMI’s Board of Directors, PMI Education Foundation’s Board of Directors, or any Board Support Committees may not participate in the nomination or evaluation process of an award, nor are those members eligible to receive an award.
• Individuals or organizations that have failed to comply with PMI policies and procedures, including but not limited to PMI's Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, will not be considered.

Number of Awards

• The PMI Fellow Award is the highest and most prestigious individual award presented by Project Management Institute for service to the Institute and the project management profession.
• PMI reserves the right to select all applicants in a particular year if the nominations meet the stated criteria.
• PMI reserves the right not to select a winner for a particular year if the evaluations performed indicate that nominations do not meet the stated criteria.

Fee Structure

• There is no fee to submit a nomination for PMI’s professional awards.

Criteria

• Specific criteria are outlined in each award Application.
• Nominations must address all of the criteria elements.

Nomination Overview

• Nominations must be sent electronically to awards@pmi.org and must be received by the application deadline.
• The Lead Nominator shall be a PMI Fellow and a PMI member in good standing.
• A PMI Fellow may serve as a Lead Nominator for up to two nominations per year.
• Letters of nomination must be submitted by the Lead Nominator who must be a PMI Member as well as three to five additional nominators, of which two have to be current members.
• Each letter of nomination must be signed by the author and must be no more than two pages. Each letter must include:
  • A description of the contributions deserving the award based on the stated criteria. The description must clearly outline why the contributions meet the stated criteria.
  • The nominator’s length and type of association with the nominee.
  • The nominator’s personal knowledge of the nominee’s contributions.
  • The nominator’s contact information (name, address, telephone, email, etc.).
• Nominators must be from different organizations/employers than that of the nominee and from each other. Nominators should be chosen to provide various perspectives of the nominee’s contributions.
• The Lead Nominator must ensure that all documentation is accurately completed and submitted by the nomination deadline and in alignment with the PMI General Submission Guidelines. Incomplete nomination packages will not be evaluated.

Nomination Procedures

• There must be one designated Lead Nominator with whom PMI will communicate regarding the nomination.
• Lead Nominator’s responsibilities:
  • Must have knowledge of the nominated project, or nominee and the project management principles applied.
  • Must document any direct personal or professional relationship of the lead nominator to the nominated project or nominee.
  • Must ensure the nomination package is complete at the time of submission; incomplete nomination packages will not be evaluated.
  • Must review the specific eligibility, restrictions and content outlined on each award document.
  • Must ensure the following documents are included with the submission. Failure to provide the necessary forms will eliminate the nomination from consideration.
    • PMI Permissions and Release Form
      The nominee/client/owner of any body of work being considered for a PMI Professional Award must complete and sign the form confirming whether he or she did, or did not, use any PMI trademark, logo or copyrighted content from any PMI publication. Usage will require permission from PMI in the form of a permission agreement or license available on PMI's Permissions page. The award nomination package must provide the PMI Permission Agreement Title or License Number in Box A of the PMI Permissions Form. If no PMI intellectual property has been used in the body of work being considered for a PMI Professional Award, please complete Box B on the PMI Permissions Form. Signing of the form also grants PMI the non-exclusive right to use any submitted copyrighted materials for any business-related purpose, including press releases, and other marketing and promotional materials, including but not limited to videos as well as case studies. Lead Nominators (unless you are also the nominee/client/owner of the body of work) must forward this form to the nominee and ensure that the nominee signs, dates, and returns the form that must be included in the nomination package. The form will not count toward the stated page count maximum.
    • PMI Contact Information Form
      This document lists the contact information for the lead nominator and other important contacts. This form, available on each awards web page, will not count toward the stated page count maximum.

Nomination Requirements

• Nominations must be sent electronically to awards@pmi.org and must be received no later than the due date shown under “Nomination Deadline.”
• All submitted material must be in English with a minimum of a 10-pt. font, in 8 1/2” x 11” letter size or A4 format. Please use global English as PMI awards are evaluated by an international committee who may not be familiar with acronyms and terms from your organization, industry, or country.
• Specific submission and criteria page count maximums are outlined on each individual awards web page and application document. Nominations that exceed the documented page count maximum will not be evaluated. Nominations may include an option glossary of no more than 1 page.
• Any additional documentation in alternate media formats, such as multimedia, will not be evaluated.
• Nomination packages that are incomplete or are received after the nomination deadline will not be reviewed.

Nomination Package Content

The nomination package, consisting of no more than 15 pages, must contain the following:

• PMI Fellow Award Application document
• Letters of nomination of no more than two pages each from the Lead Nominator and from the other three to five nominators, which include what is outlined in the Nomination Procedures above.
• A resume or curriculum vitae of the nominee may be included to expand the requested data and identify other professional accomplishments, but must include a summary document. The resume/curriculum vitae and summary document will not count toward the stated page count maximum.
• PMI Permissions and Release Form signed by the nominee, not the Lead Nominator*
• PMI Contact Information Form*

* These documents do not count toward the page count maximum.

Additional Nomination Package Content Details

• Nominations and all supporting material (if requested) must be in English.
• Supporting Documents (if applicable): Supporting documents (photographs, newspaper articles, organizational charts, etc.) count toward the page count maximum.
• Letters of support: Included in the page count maximum unless noted otherwise in the individual Awards Guidelines.
• Web Pages, Video, CDs: The criteria should be answered in the nomination; review of any web pages, video and/or CDs would be at the option of the evaluator unless specifically requested by the nominee in relation to the criteria.
• PMI may use submitted copyrighted materials for any business-related purpose, including press releases, and other marketing and promotional materials, including but not limited to videos as well as case studies.
• PMI will not reimburse any expenses for assembling the nomination package or for any presentation materials that may need to be created should the nomination be selected as a winner.

Verification, Evaluation, and Selection

• The PMI Professional Awards Staff will contact the Lead Nominator to confirm receipt and eligibility of the nomination package.
• The PMI Professional Awards Staff will verify the nominations eligibility.
• The PMI Professional Awards Staff will send the nomination package to a designated panel of evaluators, who are subject matter experts, for evaluation.
• The nominations, evaluation process, and scores are proprietary to PMI and will not be disclosed to nominators or nominees.
• The Lead Nominator and Nominee will be notified of the status of the nomination at the conclusion of the evaluation process.
• Selection and communication of nomination status must take place no later than the third quarter of the year.

In the Event of an Unsuccessful Nomination

• A new nomination package must be submitted in order for the nominee to be considered in subsequent years.

Presentation of the Award

• The PMI Professional Awards are presented at the PMI Global Conference in the fourth quarter. The PMO of the Year Award is presented at the PMO Symposium in the fourth quarter. The award winners will be presented a trophy. No cash awards are offered.
• PMI reserves the right within its sole discretion, and at any time up to the time of the presentation of the award, to determine that a nominee is or has become ineligible for the award. In any such case, PMI will notify the nominee and/or lead nominator of its decision as soon as possible prior to the award presentation.
• PMI reserves the right to rescind the award if it is discovered that any information submitted as false or misleading.
• The award winner will be publicized through PMI communication channels and external media after the presentation of the award. A winner may also coordinate additional publicity with PMI after the presentation event.

Program Inquiries

Thank you for your interest and support of the PMI Professional Awards Program.

Please direct all inquiries, comments, and nominations to awards@pmi.org.