The purpose of Honorary Membership is to acknowledge those who have served the
ESA for at least 20 years through significant involvement in the affairs of the
Society that has reached an extraordinary level. The number of Honorary Members
cannot exceed 1% of the membership and, therefore, recipients must reflect the
highest level of extraordinary contribution to the Society.**
Those holding the title of Honorary Member receive complimentary lifetime membership to the ESA, as well as complimentary lifetime registration to the ESA Annual Meeting. On request and at no charge, they may also receive the American Entomologist. At the Annual Meeting, new Honorary Members are presented with an inscribed plaque and an Honorary Member pin.
The judging panel for Honorary Members consists of five of the most recent and available former Past Presidents of the Society. Each year, the judging panel recommends eligible individuals to the ESA Governing Board for consideration. Nominees who are accepted by the Governing Board are then placed on the election ballot and voted upon by ESA members.
Per the ESA Bylaws, honorary membership may be conferred on regular members and emeritus members who:
a. are in good standing with the Society,
b. are at least 60 years of age,
c. have had significant involvement in the affairs of the Society**, and
d. have served with distinction in the field of entomology.
**Selection Criteria: Beyond the requirements of membership, age, and professional status that reflects well upon the Society, the most telling criterion is the quality of service to the ESA. The appropriate level of this service is not any set quantity of volunteer, committee, or governance activities; or offices held. Significant involvement defines a recognizable level of extraordinary service to, and impact on, the Society over a period of 20 years; service contributed to multiple activities during concurrent years can be treated as separate contributions. It is the duty of both the nominator(s) to explain and the committee to evaluate the record of service and judge whether or not the level of involvement is far above the norm (i.e., extraordinary).
Please click here to see a list of those entomologists who have received the title of Honorary Member.
All nomination packages must be submitted electronically according to the following specifications (paper nominations will not be accepted):
The entire nomination package must not exceed 20 pages total. This includes letters of nomination or recommendation and publication lists.
Letters of nomination and recommendation must be included in the electronic package. Printed letters sent in lieu of electronic versions will not be accepted.
Only the following file formats will be accepted: PDF (Adobe Portable Document Format), RTF (Rich Text Format), TIF graphic files, or JPG graphic files. Files created on either PC or MAC platforms will be accepted. Please make sure scanned images can be clearly read on a computer screen.
Font size for text may not be smaller than 10 point.
A nomination package may contain no more than 6 separate files, and the size of each file must not exceed 3 MB.
Nomination packages may be submitted by either of two methods:
PREFERRED METHOD: Submit online via the
Nomination Submission Website. This
method eliminates problems associated with e-mailing large files. Nominators
are strongly encouraged to use this method.
OR
E-mail the nomination package as attached files to the awards administrator. In the submission e-mail, please include the title of the award in the subject of the e-mail. In the body of the e-mail, provide the name of the nominee, the nominator's contact information, and a list of the attached files.
Honorary Membership has been regarded as a high honor that is not bestowed lightly; proposals should be carefully prepared and factual in their presentation of information about the candidate. Nominations may originate from the ESA judging panel on Honorary Membership or from any member of the Society.
The nomination package must include:
Name, address, phone number, and e-mail address of nominee
Date of birth
Academic record (degrees received, dates, and institutions only)
Professional positions (descriptions of positions held, employers, and years held)
Current employer's address
Detailed ESA service record
Highlights of professional activities
Summary of awards, honors, and special recognitions received
Bibliography (a summarized or abbreviated version is acceptable.)
Nomination packages must be received by ESA headquarters by March 15.
Any candidate nominated, but not selected, may be renominated no more than two times within the two-year period after his/her initial submission. Nomination packages will be retained for two years by the awards administrator. Nominators must send a letter of renomination to the awards administrator by the nomination deadline above. Previously submitted documentation will be used for the evaluation process unless the nominator submits new or updated documents. The renomination e-mail must contain this additional documentation. New or updated documents must follow the electronic submission requirements noted above.
All candidates and their nominators will be notified of the results after the ESA Governing Board holds its summer meeting.
For questions about Honorary Membership, please click here.