SAME Academy of Fellows Celebrates 30th Anniversary in 2025
While the Society began to recognize “Fellows” in 1972, the process where individuals were selected was not a formal review nor was there a special ceremony honoring them, as was more common in other organizations. Over the decades, the list of SAME Fellows grew, and, with it, an acknowledgement that to be named so was a distinct honor.
In early 1994, as captured in the “History of the Academy of Fellows,” discussions began among SAME leadership about the possibility of organizing the Fellows and granting these members greater recognition within the Society. Soon, the idea of elevating the place of Fellows in SAME and organizing the Fellows began to gain traction.
AOF is Established. On June 1, 1994, an informal breakfast was held during SAME’s Annual Meeting to discuss how best to proceed with better honoring and recognizing of SAME Fellows. Nearly 80 Fellows attended—including several past National Presidents. The consensus was that a committee should be established, charged with considering how to elevate recognition of Fellows within SAME; to consider what more Fellows could do for SAME; and to consider an organization of Fellows.What came to be known as the “Working Committee,” a group of 12 SAME leaders with professional experience across government and industry, would meet six times over the next several months. These meetings would help establish the roles and responsibilities of Fellows; expand the process for how Fellows would be selected; develop a specific logo and medallion; ascertain a path forward for what would ultimately become the Fellows Investiture and the Golden Eagle Awards; and give direction to Fellows in helping SAME meet its goals and objectives.
The meetings were thorough and detailed—and ultimately very successful in accomplishing the committee’s goals. The Academy of Fellows began as an official organization within SAME on New Year’s Day 1995.
Marking 30 Years. The year 2025 marks the 30th Anniversary of the Academy of Fellows. This special milestone owes to the countless hours of service SAME Fellows have given, from leading local Posts to leading the Board of Direction, from coaching to mentoring to giving back to the community, from being the rock so many can count on to being the beacon so many others can follow. For 30 years through the Academy of Fellows, SAME Fellows have lived their charge to Support SAME’s Mission and Strategic Plan; to Be a Role Model; to Be a Mentor; to Support SAME Posts; and to be Patriotic and Respectful.
No two of their experiences as members of SAME are the same. Their Journeys to Fellow (and beyond) can inspire others to give back and support SAME and the engineering profession as Suzanne DiGeronimo, FAIA, F.SAME so memorably did during the 2015 Golden Eagle Awards.
View the Pearls of Wisdom Collection
SAME Fellows are invited to share personal vignettes, “Pearls of Wisdom,” to honor the 30th Anniversary of the Academy of Fellows in 2025.
Legacy of Impact: Academy of Fellows Over the Years
Inspiring SAME Members. The pearl is the gemstone symbolizing 30th anniversaries. It is fitting that for the 30th Anniversary of the Academy of Fellows, our Fellows have been asked to share the value and provide their Pearls of Wisdom that only an SAME Fellow would have. We hope these vignettes encourage other members to become more engaged within SAME, to give back to the profession, and to pay it forward for the next generation who will follow in their footsteps as today’s Fellows follow in the footsteps of those original SAME Fellows commemorated back in 1972, names like Itschner, Moreell, Sverdrup, and Curtin, and the hundreds more invested in the years since.
The role of Fellows within SAME is invaluable. These members are the volunteer leaders of the organization. They champion SAME’s mission and vision, they inspire the future STEM professionals of our country, they mentor the rising leaders they meet along the way, and they take on the heavy-lifting of keeping the Society vibrant and valuable. Now, three decades after its founding the Academy of Fellows continues to be an essential national element of SAME. Through its leadership, Fellows are doing more than ever to carry out their pledge, reaffirmed through the 2018 AOF Action Plan: “I will be a role model and mentor, supporting SAME’s mission and being active in our Posts. I will understand the national direction and translate it into action and Post level. I will support those who serve to protect our freedoms and way of life. So help me God.”
As we move into 2025, I encourage all our Fellows to proudly represent their Fellowship in SAME, as next year we will celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Academy of Fellows. Yes, it will have been 30 years since the Academy of Fellows was founded. This milestone is particularly meaningful for me, as it means I will truly have come full circle. As a young captain at the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence at Brooks AFB in San Antonio, I was asked to volunteer and help plan and execute the first Fellows Investiture ceremony, which was held in the Alamo City in 1995. Now as a retired brigadier general, and SAME national leader, I’ll be able to lead our celebration of 30 years of continued support to our Society, our profession, and our nation.
Brig. Gen. Patrice Melançon, P.E., LEED AP, F.SAME, USAF (Ret.), SAME National Vice President and Chair, Academy of Fellows
From the AOF Chair
“I didn’t know I shouldn’t or that I couldn’t.”
Suzanne DiGeronimo, FAIA, F.SAME, member of the Working Committee that established the Academy of Fellow, reflects on her career and being an SAME Fellow while accepting the Golden Eagle Award in 2015.
SAME Fellows are invited to share Pearls of Wisdom with SAME members present and future. Help honor the 30th Anniversary of the Academy of Fellows in 2025, sharing the value of what it means to be a Fellow. There are no criteria beyond we want welcome you to provide a poignant personal reflection, as an SAME Fellow, on topics such as career advice, thoughts on SAME and the value of being involved, service and sacrifice, giving back, mentoring, and those leaders and mentors who impacted you. The wonderful diversity among SAME Fellows is sure to produce a collection of Pearls of Wisdom befitting the great legacy of the Academy of Fellows. These will be featured as part of an AOF 30th Anniversary Pearls of Wisdom collection.