Fellow of the Society - Form 3: Sponsor Statement

Who Should be a Sponsor?

You should be a Sponsor if:

• You are knowledgeable in the same technical areas as the Fellow Nominee.
• You have worked with the Nominee and can personally authenticate and verify the “outstanding achievement in the field of plastics engineering, science, or technology, or in the management of such activities” that the Nominee has completed.

You should not be a Sponsor if:

• You have only known the Nominee in a social or peripheral relationship.
• You have only second-hand knowledge of his/her achievements.

Purpose of the Sponsor
The Sponsor is needed to help put the Nominee’s contributions into perspective for the people who will be reviewing these achievements. The sponsors and the Fellows Election Committee interact to recognize the highest contributors to the plastics engineering profession while protecting and enhancing the prestige of SPE and its Fellow membership grade.  Sponsor statements should be honest and reliable reflections on the worthiness of the candidate to receive Fellow status. Business considerations and personal liaisons or biases should not enter into such assessments of the individual’s contributions to the field. Unrealistic overstatements by the sponsor may end up being deleterious to the election of the Fellow candidate. The candidate’s and SPE’s interests are both best served by presenting a well-rounded picture of his/her achievements. This statement is your opportunity to further highlight and stress the accomplishments of the nominee (the significance, value, or sustainable impact of an achievement in the development of technology, influence on the market, or the scientific contribution to the plastics industry). For example: 

• Was the Nominee the sole inventor or developer of the technology or was he/she part of a team?
• Was the Nominee responsible for the concept, development, engineering, execution, or management of the technology?
• Speak of outstanding achievements.  What made each of the achievements “outstanding”?
• Stress the significance, value, or sustainable impact of each contribution.

What not to Include in the Sponsor Statement

• Do not list the nominee’s personal information, i.e. marital status/number of children.
• Do not list SPE activities, unless technical in nature (for example, Division or ANTEC Technical Program activity, editorial advisory board member of SPE journals).
• Do not list titles and positions held by the nominee (for example, technical volumes reviewer, technical journal editor or associate editor).
• Do not list activities unrelated to the plastics industry, such as church or civic activities.