IEEE Awards Booklet - 2022 - 8

2022 IEEE MEDALS
IEEE Richard M. Emberson Award
Sponsored by the IEEE Technical
Activities Board
IEEE Haraden Pratt Award
Sponsored by the IEEE Foundation
Fred Mintzer
Joseph V. Lillie
For outstanding leadership of technical
activities including the IEEE Collabratec and
TAB technology-centric communities
A dedicated volunteer who has served IEEE in many roles, Fred
Mintzer is known for being a visionary who foresees opportunities
important to the changing needs of IEEE's Technical Activities
Board (TAB). Mintzer recognized a lack of a consolidated
social media platform for TAB Societies, Councils, and technical
communities to communicate and collaborate. He reached out
to the volunteer leadership of the IEEE Publication Services and
Products Board (PSPB) and IEEE Member and Geographic Activities
to partner on an IEEE-wide social media platform, which
would become known as IEEE Collabratec. He personally made
the proposal to the IEEE Financial Committee to fund this initiative,
and he secured endorsement and was the lead voice in making
the proposal to the IEEE Board of Directors, which accepted
his proposal. A critical challenge facing IEEE in 2012 (and continuing
today) was the impact of open access (OA) publishing initiatives
on the IEEE Publications model. He organized a coalition
of the TAB Strategic Planning Committee and IEEE PSPB in the
development of a three-pronged strategy: PSPB would create a
broad-area OA journal; all existing Technical Activities publications
could become hybrids, publishing both OA and subscriberonly
content; and new or existing TA publications could choose
to be OA or hybrid. He then diplomatically guided TAB thru a
vigorous discussion with successful adoption of the proposal. His
support for this visionary policy put IEEE publishing in the best
of possible competitive positions and enabled IEEE to continue
to be the publishing leader in its fields of interest. He also took
a leadership role in advancing the technical objectives of IEEE
by rewriting the TAB mission statement to include a focus on
technology-centric communities worldwide and make support
of emerging technologies a part of TAB's highest priorities.
An IEEE Life Fellow, IEEE-HKN Member, and recipient of
the IEEE Third Millennium Medal, Mintzer was program director
of the Blue Gene Watson Supercomputer Center and the
associate director of IBM's Deep Computing Institute (retired),
IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY, USA.
For sustained and outstanding focus on
the engagement of volunteers and staff in
implementing continuous improvement of
IEEE operations
With over 45 years of dedicated service, Joseph V. Lillie epitomizes
what it means to be an IEEE volunteer with a commitment to its
growth and development by cultivating a collaborative environment
and demonstrating that human diversity is IEEE's greatest asset. He
constantly explores ideas that benefit IEEE members and has consistently
worked to provide members with information that will
help them understand available Institute resources and how these resources
can help them improve their technical skills and encourage
ethical practice. He drove the creation of professional development
conferences, seminars, and programs that provide IEEE members
with career and skills development opportunities. His efforts to create
the Electronic Membership Model has improved membership
opportunities in developing countries and around the world. His
vision also led to the IEEE Center for Leadership Excellence, which
has increased member engagement and volunteer educational opportunities.
He provided leadership, encouragement, and support of
the IEEE NextGen project, an improved, simplified financial and
contract system. He served two different terms as IEEE Treasurer
(2005-06 and 2018-20) and is known for approaching enormously
controversial financial issues with both firmness and tact, encouraging
all views to be heard, respecting differing opinions, defusing
tensions with humor, and guiding IEEE committees and boards to
thoughtful resolutions. He served IEEE through the Finance Committee
(a total of 11 years, including 5 years as chair), Infrastructure
Oversight Committee (5 years), Insurance Committee (3 years), Investment
Committee (3 years), Compensation Committee (2 years),
and Employee Benefits Committee (2 years). As vice president of
IEEE Member and Geographic Activities (MGA) and again during
his service as member and treasurer of the IEEE Foundation
Board, he fostered interactions between MGA and Technical Activities
Board members. Through creation of working teams comprised
of members from the two organization units and initiating joint
sessions at the Board series, he led significant progress in increasing
understanding across the two units. For his service to the Foundation
Board, he was named Director Emeritus.
An IEEE Life Senior Member, IEEE-HKN Member, and recipient
of the MGA William W. Middleton Distinguished Service
Award (2014), Lillie is retired from BellSouth Telecommunications
(now AT&T), Lafayette, LA, USA.
Scope: For distinguished service advancing the technical objectives
of the IEEE.
Scope: For outstanding volunteer service to the IEEE.
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IEEE Awards Booklet - 2022

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