Article IV, Section 2 of the Bylaws provides that "Each President shall appoint at least three Fellows annually to serve three-year terms on the Committee on Fellows.  The President shall designate one of those members whose term is next to expire as chair."

Article IV, Section 1 provides that "The Council may by majority vote elect to Fellowship any Member nominated by the Committee on Fellows.  Such nomination shall be on the basis of the Nominee's contributions to the development and dissemination of the theory and application of statistics and probability.'' Only members of IMS are eligible to be Fellows of IMS.

The current policy and procedure of the Committee on Fellows was established by Council in 1997.  While the Council did not recommend a quota for fellowship, it was felt that with a membership of 3600, a running average of between 20 and 25 new fellows elected each year was appropriate.

• The candidate shall have evidenced continuing activity in research in mathematical statistics by publication of independent work of merit.
   
• The first qualification may be partly or wholly waived in the case of  (a) a candidate of well-established leadership, whose contributions to the field of statistics or probability other than original research shall be judged of equal value; or (b) a candidate of well-established leadership in the application of statistics or probability, whose work has contributed greatly to the utility of and application of these areas.
   
• Prospective fellows should have been members on December 1 of the year preceding the one in which they are to be considered for Fellowship by the committee.  Candidates should also have shown a commitment to the IMS by having been members of the society for at least two years.

A call for nominations and a nomination form is published in the IMS Bulletin, and on the IMS web page.  Members nominating a person for Fellow transmit completed nomination form that includes a list of not more than five publications, other reasons for nominating the person, and a brief citation.  Supplementary material including a curriculum vitae, supporting letters, and any other relevant material should accompany the nomination.  The nomination package is sent to the IMS Business Office, as per the instructions in the IMS Bulletin by the deadline of January 31.  The Business Office distributes the packages to all members of the Committee on Fellows.

The Chair of the Committee on Fellows arranges for discussion and voting , and transmits to the President a list of successful nominations for election by Council.  Normally, the Chair of the Committee reports to the President on or before April 15 to allow sufficient time for Council approval and invitations to be sent to newly elected Fellows well in advance of the Annual Meeting.

The new Fellows are announced at the Presidential Invited Address at the Annual Meeting.  The President writes to all the nominators well before the Annual Meeting thanking them for their efforts and informing them of the results.

There are no formal rules or voting schemes that the Committee on Fellows must follow in deciding which nominations should be forwarded to the President.  It is up to the Chair of the Committee to advise the Committee of the voting scheme and other relevant issues, to encourage discussion of the issues and the nominations, and to prepare the final list of successful nominations.  Any relevant information on procedures available from Council discussion or previous Committee on Fellows discussions shall be forwarded to the Chair of the Committee on Fellows by the President.

The Committee on Special Lectures arranges for papers of unusual interest to be given at regular meetings by distinguished scientists. It also selects the Wald Lecturer and, in alternating years, the Neyman, Rietz and LeCam Lecturers. The names of the selected lecturers are usually announced at the IMS Annual Meeting at least one year in advance.

The Annals and Statistical Science Editors ex-officio members of the Committee on Special Lectures, since special papers are usually published in one of these journals. The Program Secretary and Associate Program Secretary for Probability serve as ex-officio members of the Committee on Special Lectures. In the recent past, the ex-officio members have been voting members of the committee.

The committee invites eight individuals to deliver Medallion Lectures in the following year without specifying at which IMS meeting the paper should be presented. There is an informal rule that no one who has given a Medallion Lecture (or a Special Invited Paper) in the past five years is eligible to be chosen as a Medallion Lecturer, although they may be chosen as a Named Lecturer.

Medallion Lectures are distinct from Invited Papers, which are chosen by the various Program Committees for specific meetings. Each Medallion Lecturer will receive a Medallion in a brief ceremony preceding the lecture.

The Committee on Special Lectures should include in its selections at least one person in each of the following four areas: probability, theoretical statistics, applied statistics, and interdisciplinary. Because more statisticians than probabilists are usually on the committee and each group tends to vote for people with whom they are familiar, probabilists maybe less likely to be chosen. To overcome this problem, some committee chairs have devised voting schemes in which the number of Medallion Lectures in probability is fixed in advance, and then separate votes are taken in probability and statistics. 

The chair of the Special Lectures Committee should be provided with a list of the Medallion Lecturers (or SIPs) for the last six years.

All named lectures are selected by the Committee on Special Lectures and are given at the Annual meeting.  Details for each lecture follow.