IEEE Antennas & Propagation Society Bylaws

The Society’s field of interest, outlined in Article II of the Constitution, includes the theory,
analysis, computation, measurement, design, development, test, and standards in all of the relevant
areas described in detail in Sections 2-1-2.5.

This includes basic theory and computational methods; diffraction and scattering, inverse scattering,
target identification, radiation, radar cross sections, propagation, and interaction with all
continuous and discrete media, including random and complex media, geophysical media, biological
media, metamaterials, and electromagnetic bandgap structures; polarization; novel electromagnetic
materials; and computational electromagnetics, including methods for and
applications of numerical solutions of Maxwell’s and other equations of electromagnetics, in all
scales, nano to astronomical.

This includes analysis, design, and development; empirical, theoretical, and computational models
and experimental verification; material properties and selection; beam control and steering;
signal processing for antennas, including digital beamforming, adaptive arrays, pattern synthesis,
and pattern nulling.

This includes theoretical and computational methods of predicting propagation and sensing;
propagation and sensing measurements in all media, including Earth; and the characterization of
propagation media, both natural and artificial; and applications of propagation, including wireless
communication, multipath interference, smart, reconfigurable, and adaptive antennas, and
multiple antenna systems for spatial, polarization, pattern, and other diversity applications.

This includes measurement, specification, and standards of all quantities and techniques related
to antennas, electromagnetic radiation, propagation, and scattering; display and visualization of
electromagnetic fields and related results of analyses, computations, and measurements; nearfield
and compact-range measurements and the development of new measurement techniques;
and imaging and sensing using electromagnetic fields.

Membership in the Society is available to all IEEE members, based on the payment of the annual
fee as prescribed in Section 8.1 of these Bylaws.

The Society shall accept Affiliates, subject to IEEE rules and regulations.

Article IV, Section 1 of the Constitution provides that an Administrative Committee, hereafter
called the AdCom, will manage the activities of the Society. Article IV, Section 1 also provides
that the AdCom shall consist of the presiding President, the President-Elect, twelve elected
members, and the four most-junior past Presidents.

The Secretary-Treasurer, Honorary Life Members of the AdCom, the Editors-in-Chief of the Society’s
publications, the local Chapter Chairs, and all Chairs of standing committees of the Ad-
Com shall serve as ex-officio members of the AdCom where the above mentioned are not
otherwise AdCom members. The rights and privileges of regular and ex-officio members shall
be identical except that no ex-officio member may vote in AdCom meetings. The President, with
the advice and consent of the AdCom, may appoint additional ex-officio members.

The AdCom shall hold at least one meeting each calendar year, preferably at the time of the Annual
Symposium. Other meetings of the AdCom shall be held at such times as are found necessary
and/or convenient. Special meetings of the AdCom may be called by the President at
his/her own discretion or upon request of three other members of the AdCom, with at least 20
days notice. These special meetings may be held in person or electronically in accordance with
IEEE policy.

No AdCom meetings shall be held for the purpose of transacting business unless each member
shall have been sent notice of the time and place of such meeting 20 days prior to the scheduled
date of the meeting, including meetings held by electronic means.

Robert’s Rules of Order (Revised) shall govern the conduct of AdCom meetings on all matters
not otherwise specified in these Bylaws or the Constitution.

A majority of the voting members of the AdCom shall constitute a quorum. All members shall
have an equal vote. Individuals holding more than one position on the AdCom or any committee
thereof shall be limited to one vote on each matter being considered by the AdCom or committee.
Proxy voting is not allowed.

If less than a quorum attends a duly called meeting, tentative actions may be taken which will
become effective upon subsequent ratification either at a meeting or through other approved
means of communication by a sufficient number of AdCom members as to constitute a majority.
Minutes of such meetings shall be communicated by the Secretary-Treasurer to each AdCom
member, who may register disapproval of any actions taken at such meetings within 10 days after
receiving said minutes or the member shall be deemed to have ratified the same.

A majority of the legal votes cast by those members of the AdCom attending a duly called meeting
shall be necessary for the conduct of its business except as otherwise provided in the Constitution
and Bylaws. This includes selection of symposia sites as well as any other Society actions
as specified in these Bylaws.

An executive session of the AdCom may be convened through a motion of any voting member
of the AdCom. The executive session is defined as a meeting where only voting members of the
AdCom are present.

The President, under direction of the AdCom, shall have general supervision of the affairs of the
Society. He/she shall preside at meetings of the AdCom, at general meetings of the Society, and
have such other powers and perform such other duties as may be provided in these Bylaws, or as
may be delegated to him/her by vote of the AdCom. The President shall supervise the affairs of
the Society, shall organize standing committees, and shall speak for the Society on all matters
not specifically delegated to others. The President shall be an ex-officio member of all Committees
of the Society. The President shall have the prerogative to approve technical co-sponsorship
of conferences and meetings. The President is a member of the IEEE Technical Activities Board
(TAB). When notified of a meeting of the TAB, the President shall insure representation of the
Society at such meeting personally or by an alternate (usually the President-Elect). If an alternate
cannot be found, the President shall present the views of the Society in a letter of proxy.

The President-Elect shall fulfill the duties of the President in his/her absence or incapacity, and
shall fulfill such other functions as the President shall direct. The President-Elect is the President’s
designated alternate at TAB meetings and shall attend all TAB meetings while serving as
President-Elect.

In accordance with Article IV, Section 6 of the Constitution, the Secretary-Treasurer is appointed
annually by the President and serves as an ex-officio member of the AdCom. The Secretary-
Treasurer is responsible for keeping records of AdCom meetings; preparing and distributing
minutes, notices, or other such documents required by the President and/or AdCom; submitting
all necessary paperwork to the IEEE TAB and IEEE General Manager; and managing the financial
affairs of the Society.

The AdCom may establish standing or ad hoc subcommittees including both functional subcommittees
(e.g., Awards and Fellows, Chapters, Membership, Nominations) and technical subcommittees.
Technical subcommittees may be established as needed to develop specific areas of
the field of interest. All appointments to subcommittee and similar posts will be for a term of one
year or until successors are appointed or the subcommittees are dissolved.

The business of the AdCom may be handled by correspondence, telephone, facsimile, express
delivery service, or electronic means in accordance with IEEE policy when, in the opinion of the
President, matters requiring action can be adequately handled in this manner. A majority of the
legal votes of the AdCom is necessary for approval of actions handled in this manner, unless
otherwise provided or if all persons participating in the meeting can hear each other at the same
time, in which case normal majority voting requirements apply. Telephone acts are to be
promptly confirmed in writing, via first-class mail, express delivery service, or electronic means
in accordance with IEEE policy. The Secretary-Treasurer shall prepare minutes of any remotely
conducted business including a record of individual member votes.

Within-term vacancies on the AdCom shall be filled by appointment by the President with the
consent of the AdCom for the duration of the unexpired terms. Any partial terms served as an
appointed member of AdCom do not count toward established term limits.

In order to ensure a continuously active AdCom, elected members who miss three consecutive
meetings of the AdCom will be dropped from AdCom membership, in the absence of extenuating
circumstances. Such circumstances shall be determined by the President with the consent of
the remaining members of the AdCom. Any vacancies caused by this process shall be filled in
accord with Section 4.13 of these Bylaws.

Article IV, Section 1 of the Constitution mandates a vote by the Society membership at large to
elect the President-Elect and voting members of the AdCom.

The President shall reconstitute the Nomination Committee each year. The membership of the
Committee shall consist of the four most-junior past Presidents. The immediate past President
shall be the Chair of the Nomination Committee. In the event of the incapacity or conflict of interest
of the Chair, the most recent Past Chair shall be Chair of the Nomination Committee. Under
extenuating circumstances as judged by the President, another individual may be appointed
as Chair of the committee. The Chair of the Nomination Committee shall not be eligible to be
included on the slate of nominees during his/her term of service in this capacity. If any of the
designated members of the Nomination Committee wish to be nominated for the offices of
President-Elect or AdCom member, they must resign their position on the Nomination Committee
before the first meeting of the Nomination Committee for that year. This committee vacancy
shall be filled by appointment by the President with the consent of the AdCom.

Prior to the Annual Meeting each year, the Chair of the Nomination Committee shall solicit recommendations
for nominations for the office of President-Elect and elected members of the Ad-
Com. Recommendations will be solicited from AdCom members, Chapter chairs, and chairs of
all subgroups and standing committees. The Nomination Committee shall prepare a slate of
nominees for President-Elect and elected-member vacancies of the AdCom for presentation at
the Annual Meeting.

For each elective office of the Society, individual voting members eligible to vote in such election
may nominate candidates either by a written petition or by majority vote at a nomination
meeting of the AdCom, provided such nominations are made at least 28 days before the date of
election. For a member to be nominated by petition for an elective office, signatures of 2 percent
of Society members as listed in the official IEEE membership records at the end of the year preceding
the election will be required. Signatures can be submitted electronically through the official
IEEE society annual election website, or by signing and mailing a paper petition. The name
of each member signing the paper petition shall be clearly printed or typed. For identification
purposes of signatures on paper petitions, membership numbers or addresses as listed in the official
IEEE membership records shall be included. Only signatures submitted electronically
through the IEEE society annual elections website or original signatures on paper petitions shall
be accepted. Facsimiles, or other copies of the original signature, shall not be accepted. Completed
petitions, one nomination only per petition, should be forwarded to the Chair of the
Nomination Committee, along with a written statement confirming the nominee(s) willingness to
serve at or before the Annual Meeting of the year of the election. The number of nominations by
petition for AdCom positions shall not exceed eight and the number of nominations by petition
for President-Elect shall not exceed two. Acceptance of nominations by petition is limited to the
first eight received for AdCom positions and the first two received for the office of President-
Elect. AdCom and President-Elect candidates nominated by petition will be so designated on the
ballot.

In the preparation of the slate of nominees and in the selection of final AdCom candidates, consideration
shall be given to geographical representation, technical interests, and professional affiliation.

A list of all suggested President-Elect and AdCom candidates, including any qualified members
nominated by petition, shall be submitted to the AdCom members at the Annual Meeting in Executive
Session.

At a meeting of the AdCom in Executive Session to be held in conjunction with the Annual
Meeting or via mail or electronic means in accordance with IEEE policy, the Chair of the Nomination
Committee will announce to the AdCom those nominated for President-Elect and the Ad-
Com by petition.

At the same time as the Announcement detailed in Section 5.3.1 of the Bylaws, the Chair of the
Nomination Committee will present for AdCom approval a list of candidates for President-Elect
and at least 16 candidates, ranked in order of preference of the Nomination Committee, for
nomination as candidates for AdCom membership. The AdCom, at its discretion, may reorder
the ranking of nomination list in Executive Session by majority vote.

The approval of the President-Elect and AdCom candidate list requires approval of a majority of
AdCom members present at the meeting or a simple majority of all voting AdCom members if
the approval is conducted by mail or electronic means in accordance with IEEE policy.

Once a list has been approved, the Nomination Committee will take the highest-ranking candidates
for President-Elect and 16 highest-ranking candidates for election to the AdCom and, starting
with the individuals with the highest ranks, will solicit each candidate to determine whether
or not he/she wishes to accept the nomination. The slate for AdCom positions is full when eight
candidates from the list have agreed to stand in the election.

The AdCom will instruct IEEE Headquarters to mail out a ballot that contains the following:
(1) The names of the candidates with their professional qualifications for the nominees for the
office of President-Elect and the elected AdCom vacancies plus those nominated by petition.
(2) Provisions for write-in votes for the positions of President-Elect and elected AdCom members.
(3) A call to the entire Society membership for recommendations for elected AdCom member
nominations for future years.

The election of the President-Elect and elected AdCom members shall be by a mail vote of the
entire Society membership as mandated in Article IV, Section 1 of the Constitution.

The position of Honorary Life Member may be bestowed upon an outstanding member of the
profession who fulfills the following minimum requirements:
He/she shall have:
a) Made significant technical contributions in the field of interest of the Society.
b) Performed outstanding services to the profession and to the IEEE.
c) Been a member of the Group or Society for at least ten years.
d) Been an elected member of the AdCom.

Nomination for Honorary Life Member of the AdCom may be made by any member of the Ad-
Com, or by a petition signed by at least 50 members of the Society.

A two-thirds affirmative vote of all of the elected members of the AdCom will be required to
elect an Honorary Life Member. In the absence of a sufficient number of elected members of the
AdCom at a regular meeting, the election may be conducted by a mail ballot or electronic means
in accordance with IEEE policy.

Chapters are subgroups organized on a geographical basis. The rules and regulations governing
the organization and administration of Chapters are given in the IEEE Bylaws and in the IEEE
Technical Activities Board Guidelines for Chapters Manual.

The Society shall sponsor such publications as are recommended by the AdCom. Publications
undertaken by the Society shall be subject to IEEE policies and to any further guidance or controls
prescribed by the AdCom or its duly appointed subcommittees. The Society shall be responsible
for the financial aspects of its publication program.

The IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation will hereinafter be called the Transactions.

A subcommittee composed of the immediate past President, the President, and the President-
Elect, in strong consultation with the Publications Committee (Section 2.13 of Operating Manual)
and the outgoing Editor-in-Chief, shall prepare a list of suitable nominees for this Editorship.
The individuals on the list will be presented to AdCom in Executive Session and then
ranked. The President will solicit the individuals in rank order on the list for the Editorship. The
President shall appoint, with approval from the AdCom, the highest-ranked individual who
agrees to accept the responsibility.

The Transactions Editor-in-Chief shall serve for a three-year term and may be reappointed by
the President, with the advice and consent of AdCom, for a second term of three years or less.

The Transactions Editor-in-Chief, if not an elected member of the AdCom, shall be an ex-officio
member of the AdCom during his/her tenure in that office and for a period to terminate on January
1st not less than one year and not more than two years after the termination of the Editorship.

The President, with the advice and consent of the AdCom, may set the compensation for the
Transactions Editor-in-Chief.

The President, with the advice and consent of the AdCom, shall appoint the Editors-in-Chief for
all other publications, including any Society-related electronic media.

Editors-in-Chief shall be responsible for implementing the publication program defined by the
AdCom.

In accordance with the guidance of this committee and general IEEE rules and organizations,
Editors-in-Chief shall designate editors, associate editors, special guest editors, and manuscript
reviewers.

Editorial expenses shall be subject to review and the approval of the AdCom with the Editors-in-
Chief being explicitly responsible for adherence to the annual publication budget.

This award will be given for the best Transactions paper published in the preceding calendar
year, judged on the basis of technical contributions, style, and presentation. The award will consist
of an appropriately worded certificate and an honorarium set by the AdCom. Joint authors
will each receive a certificate and an equal share of the honorarium. The paper winning this
award is also eligible for consideration for the other two Society Paper Awards if otherwise
qualified.

This award will be given for the best application paper published in the Transactions in the preceding
calendar year. It will be judged on the basis of technical contributions, style, and presentation,
with consideration of the applications significance of the results described. The award will
consist of an appropriately worded certificate and an honorarium set by the AdCom. Joint authors
will each receive a certificate and an equal share of the honorarium. The paper winning this
award is also eligible for consideration for the other two Society Paper Awards if otherwise
qualified.

This award, established in honor of Professor R. W. P. King, is to be given for the best paper
published in the Transactions in the preceding calendar year, and authored by a person less than
36 years of age at the time the paper was submitted for publication. The submission date to be
used is the initial date of receipt as given in the Transactions. The paper is to be judged on the
basis of technical contribution, style, and presentation. The award is intended for original work;
papers with a single author are preferred, but papers with two authors will be considered, where
the principal author satisfies the age criterion. The award will consist of an appropriately worded
certificate and an honorarium set by the AdCom. In the case of dual authorship, the certificate
and honorarium will be awarded only to the principal author. The paper winning this award is
also eligible for consideration for the other two Society Paper Awards if otherwise qualified.
The Professor Ronold W. P. King Education Fund originally provided funds for this award.

The Society may raise funds as specified in Article V of the Constitution and in the IEEE
Bylaws and rules and regulations.

The annual fee for membership in the Society shall be established by the AdCom. These
monies will be used for the publications and activities of the Society. Such fees shall conform
to IEEE regulations for Student, Life, Retired, Unemployed, or other special classes of
membership.

IEEE Headquarters shall act as bursar for all Society funds except as specified hereunder.
Billings and receipt of the annual fee shall be via the IEEE Membership and Fiscal Departments.
All other fiscal affairs shall be handled through the Society’s Secretary-Treasurer.

In Section 4.9.1 of the Bylaws, the President is invested with the responsibility of organizing
Standing Committees.

As soon as expedient after assuming office, the President shall, with the advice of the Ad-
Com, appoint standing committees. It will be discretionary with the President to appoint any
part or all of any standing committee, or appoint the chair only of a committee and request
the latter to appoint appropriate additional committee members. When appropriate, the chair
will be selected from the previous membership of the committee involved with the advice
and recommendation of the retiring chair.

The terms of office of the chair and members of each standing committee shall be for one
year beginning on January 1 or until a successor for each position is appointed by the incoming
President.

The following is a list of standing committees organized yearly by the President:
● Awards and Fellows Committee
● Chapter Activities Committee
● Constitution and Bylaws Committee
● Distinguished Lecturer Committee
● Education Committee
● Finance Committee
● Institutional Listings Committee
● Long-Range Planning Committee
● Meetings Committee
● Membership Committee
● Nomination Committee
● Past Presidents Council
● Publications Committee
● Standards Committees (2)
● Technical Committee on Advanced Technology
● Technical Committee on Antenna Measurements
Descriptions of the responsibilities of each of these committees can be found in Section 2 of the
Society Operating Manual.

Special or ad hoc committees may be created by the AdCom. For each such case, the AdCom
shall specify the number of members the committee shall have, how the members are to be selected,
and the terms of the members if other than for the life of the committee. Special or ad hoc
committees shall be automatically dissolved after two years unless the AdCom sets an expiration
date.