ICA Fellows Call for Nominations

The Fellowship of the International Council on Archives (ICA) is the highest honor awarded by the ICA, recognising individuals who have made outstanding contributions to both the ICA community and the archival profession at an international level.

This prestigious distinction is awarded for life and is a testament to the exceptional dedication, leadership, and impact of those who have significantly advanced the field of archives and records management.

ICA Fellows are selected through a rigorous nomination process. The total number of Fellows shall not exceed 50 at any one time. A maximum of three (3) Fellows awards may be made in the years of the Conference or Congress. There is no obligation on ICA to appoint three Fellows in a given year.

Learn more about the nomination process and eligibility requirements below.

Who can nominate an ICA Fellow?

Nominators must be either a Category D Member (student, digital or full), or the coordinator of an institutional account or its right holder (Categories A, B and C) at the time of submitting the nomination.

Nominators must provide their ICA membership number and be in good standing with all ICA dues paid.

For any questions related to your membership status, please contact the ICA at members@ica.org.

If you are not an ICA member,

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Who can be nominated as an ICA Fellow?

ICA Fellows are professionals who have impacted the archival international community on different levels. According to the ICA Internal Regulations, the ICA Fellows are archival professionals who have contributed to the ICA and the Archival and/or Information Management Profession at the International Level, as follows:

Outstanding Contributions to ICA

service for at a minimum of eight (8) years on one or more of the following ICA entities: governance bodies, ICA Branches, Sections, Committees, Expert Groups, Working Groups, the Programme Commission or FIDA,

authoring or contributing to ICA Publications or Standards,

participation in sessions of the CITRA, ICA Conferences, ICA Congresses or other ICA activities as session chairs, presenters or organisers, or

advocating for ICA at a high level with International Governmental Organisations

Outstanding contributions to the archival or information management profession or professional education and training with special emphasis on international involvement including but not limited to

authoring or contributing to professional archival and information management publications,

participation in archival information management educational and training opportunities as session chairs, presenters, or organisers, or

leading on archival and information management projects which have a demonstrable impact, or

service in governance bodies of national or international associations or institutions related to archives, information management, libraries, museums, heritage sites, or education.

Nominees for ICA Fellow do not have to be an ICA member. Please also note that the Fellowship cannot be awarded posthumously, and self-nominations will not be accepted.

Submission process

Anyone interested in submitting a nomination should send an email to members@ica.org with the following documents attached as PDF files:

One page (1 page) supporting statement describing why the nominee deserves this honour

Two brief supporting letters, no more than two (2) pages long that are specifically written for this nomination

A brief biography of the candidate’s professional contributions

The two letters should come from members from different ICA geographical groupings as defined in in Article 4.1.9 of the ICA Constitution. One of the letters of support can come from the candidate’s own ICA geographical grouping.

Nominations previously presented and which were not successful may be presented anew.

The nominators must be ICA members in good standing at the time of the nomination and demonstrate how the nominated person meets the criteria. Supporting letters of the nomination must show familiarity with the nominee’s work.

All documentation should be in either of the official languages of the ICA.

Nominators are responsible for ensuring that their submissions are complete. Late nominations, or incomplete nominations will not be assessed.

We would also ask nominators to keep the nominations confidential until the final decision of the ICA Fellows Nominations Committee is communicated.