About the Academy

The SAME Academy of Fellows recognizes those members who have rendered dedicated and outstanding service to the Society, military engineering, and the A/E/C profession. SAME has bestowed the title of Fellow on select members since 1972; however in 1995 an academy was founded to formally acknowledge these distinguished individuals for their dedication to SAME and the A/E/C profession. Today, there are more than 800 members of the Academy of Fellows.

 

Upcoming Dates

Aug 5, 2022: RFPOCs submit Fellow nominee names to Kathy Off.

Aug 5, 2022: RFPOCs submit regional Fellows list to Kathy Off per email dated 7-5-22.

Aug 26, 2022: Complete draft of nomination packet due to RFPOC.

Sep 14, 2022: AOF Townhall - 3:00 PM EDT - Join Link

Oct 3, 2022: Completed Fellows packets due to SAME National Office via the on-line web form.

Nov 3, 2022: AOF Luncheon at Small Business Conference.

The History of the Academy of Fellows

The History of the Academy of Fellows

SAME Fellow Impact

How has being a SAME Fellow impacted your Career?

Executive Committee

 Chair Richard "Rad" Delaney, RA, F.SAME
Deputy Chair  Ann Ewy, F.SAME
Vice Chair, Communications & Marketing Carrie Ann Williams, F.SAME
Vice Chair, Post Outreach & Engagement Rick Rubin, F.SAME
Vice Chair, Awards & Recognition Jeanne LeBron, F.SAME
Vice Chair, Internal  Brig. Gen. Patrice Melancon, P.E., F.SAME, USAFR (Ret.)
Vice Chair, Mentoring Philios Angelides, P.E., F.SAME
Vice Chair, Events Col. Shawn Moore, F.SAME, USAF (Ret.)
SAME Staff Point of Contact Kathy Off, PMP,

Distinguished Fellow Advisory Committee

The first group of Distinguished Fellows was agreed upon by the National Leadership Team in May 2018 from the entire list of Fellows, using distinct criteria that demonstrated their continued dedication to the Society since becoming a Fellow.  The below Distinguished Fellows constitute the Advisory Committee to the Fellows Leadership above.

Regional Fellows Points of Contact

Each of SAME’s 18 regions has a Fellows Regional Point of Contact to ensure that Fellows throughout each region are kept abreast of happenings within the Academy of Fellows and to be able to solicit support for local, regional and national events.

California Kathryn Stewart, P.E., F.SAME, NAVFAC Southwest
Carolinas Joseph C. LaVoie, P.E., F.SAME, Black & Veatch Special Projects Corp.
Europe Allan Lucht, P.E., F.SAME, AFCEC Europe
Gulf Coast Mike Thompson, P.E., F.SAME, Thompson Engineering
Heartland CUCM James "Roger" Aitken, P.E., F.SAME, USNR (Ret.)
Lakes LTC Kevin J. Lovell, PgMP, PMP, F. SAME USA, (Ret), KPMG
Mid-Atlantic Capt. James H. "Jim" Donahue, P.E.,  F.SAME, USCG (Ret.)
Missouri River David A. Packard, R.A., PMP, F.SAME
North Atlantic Denise A. Tegtmeyer, P.E., F.SAME
Northeast Sheila Warren, F.SAME, Geocomp Corp.
Northern Tier Lawrence J. Toimil, F.SAME, EHS-International Inc.
Ohio Valley Timothy N. "Tim" Kyper, P.E., F.SAME, DiGioia, Gray & Associates, LLC
Pacific Brig Gen Roy-Alan Agustin, F.SAME, USAF (Ret.), NAVFAC Pacific
Rocky Mountain Anita Larson, F.SAME, Suulutaaq, Inc.
Southeast Capt. Mike Blount, P.E., F.SAME, USN (Ret.), AECOM
Southwest Col. Richard Houghton, CFM, F.SAME, USAF (Ret.), City Light and Power
Tennessee/Kentucky Col. Bob Ruch, F.SAME, USA (Ret.), Pond & Company
Texas Jim O'Brien, P.E., F.SAME, O'Brien Engineering Inc.

 

Communications

E-mails pertaining to Fellows are sent via the SAME database.  It is imperative that your record is up-to-date if you want to receive Fellows Communications.  To update your record, you must login (top of the page) and then click on "Member Account" in the left menu.

AOF Mentoring

SAME’s strategic plan calls for establishing a Society-wide strategy, to promote and advance a robust and integrated mentoring program encompassing all levels of the Society National Headquarters, Posts, and Individual Members. Building on our historic commitment to mentoring, the Academy of Fellows (AOF) is accepting the challenge to be a mentoring resource within SAME, and asking our members to actively join the rank of “Mentor” by increasing their engagement in SAME mentoring activities - both group and individual (one-on-one) - consistent with our Charge and Pledge.

 

Role of a Mentor

The AOF includes over 800 Fellows, each with the capacity to serve as a mentor to others.  As a Fellow, you can share your knowledge, skills and expertise to shape the future by positively impacting the career paths of others through your mentoring engagement.  By serving as a mentor to tomorrow's leaders, you uphold the dignity and quality of the profession and advance the professionalism of SAME Members.  As a mentor, you interact and communicate with mentees, on a consistent basis, both in-person or by other means, and serve them in many important roles, including:

Advocate

  • Arrange for the mentee to participate in high-visibility activities within your organization and in SAME-sponsored activities.
  • Encourage members to take a leadership role in SAME at the Post, Regional or National level. Show interest in their participation and become a resource for information.

Advisor

  • Communicate the formal and informal realities of career progression.
  • Recommend beneficial training opportunities (i.e. SAME-sponsored opportunities).
  • Recommend appropriate strategies for career direction, and act as a sounding board for ideas and career concerns.
  • Periodicly review mentee’s professional development plan.
  • Identify resources to help the mentee solve specific problems, then follow up to ensure that the referred resources were useful or engage in dialog to answer questions.

Coach

  • Clarify performance goals and developmental needs.
  • Demonstrate managerial, communications and technical skills.
  • Recommend specific behaviors for professional and individual development success.

Sponsor

  • Expand the mentee’s network of professional contacts, starting with introductions to colleagues at SAME events that you attend together.
  • Bring together different mentees who might mutually benefit by networking and collaborating with each other.
  • Connect mentees with appropriate educational or employment opportunities.
  • Help members pursue professional licensing or certification by providing access to resources.
  • Engage mentees in Post committee initiatives or other activities to provide a forum for peer group interaction.

National Mentor Opportunities

Engineering & Construction Camps – Actively engage in recruiting potential young professionals to volunteer and serve as mentors, squad leaders, logistical support, and other staff positions that ensures the camps continued success. Mentor recruitment activities are in high gear January – June. To learn more about camp mentor recruitment and how you can help, visit the main camps page. You can also contact Scott Prosuch, AOF Vice-chair for External Relations and camp director for the US Air Force Academy camp.

Leader Development Program – Serve as a mentor to help shepherd the professional development of these promising professionals throughout the program year. In this role, you will provide individual professional guidance and support to advance their leadership skills. Mentors are typically recruited in April of each year. To learn more, visit the main LDP page. or contact Susan Thames, LDP Mentor POC.

Young Professionals Community of Interest – Foster the relationship that has been forged with the Young Professionals Community of Interest (COI). Support the joint activities at National events, as well as. networking lunches, co-hosted happy hours, professional development webinars, speed mentoring, and one-on-one connections at the Post level. To learn more about Young Professionals, visit the YP COI page, or contact James Buckingham, the YP Mentoring POC, or Philios Angelides, the AOF Mentoring POC.

Searching for a Mentor

Finding the right mentor can help you progress and elevate your career. With over 800 members, there is a Fellow who understands your position, functional area, and goals and aspiration. Mentoring topics will cover the full continuum of an individual’s career development path – from school, to college, to career start and progression to management and leadership roles. Whether you are active military, federal civilian, or private industry employee, or still in school or college, AOF can match you with a successful professional to help shape your skills, navigate your career path, and support you in accessing the resources necessary to advance. Please refer to the resource support template in SAME Mentoring Guide (appendix B) for further guidance in identifying opportunities for Fellow engagement in various forums.

Fellows can also be a great resource in mentoring SAME Posts to implement various initiatives or programs that have a mentoring focus - from developing candidates for Fellow recognition to organizing programs that support students, young professionals, and industry firms.  Please reference the link to the Post Mentoring Dashboard template in SAME Mentoring Guide (appendix B) for additional information on this resource.

Contact Philios Angelides, AOF Mentoring POC.

Resources

Mentoring Matters No Matter Where (video)

Presenter: Colonel Ray Kimball, Chief of Faculty Learning, Innovation, Collaboration, and Research and Director of the Center for Junior Officers, U.S. Military Academy at West Point

Join Col Kimball on a prerecorded discussion on why mentoring matters. Topics include whether or not mentoring is different for enlisted, officers, and industry; the difference between coaching and mentoring; whether or not supervisors can or should be mentors; peer mentoring; and cross-gender/cross-ethnicity mentoring. This is a valuable webinar for those looking for the perfect mentor and those wishing to be true leaders with the capacity to mentor others.

Give us your Feedback

Communicate your Post’s mentoring activities and relevant stories by completing this webform for our compilation of best practices and lessons learned.

Annual Fellows Events

Annual Fellows Events

Each year, the SAME Academy of Fellows sponsors and helps support a number of events including mentoring activity at the Joint Engineer Training Conference & Expo, luncheons in connection with other SAME national events, and nominations for Fellow, Golden Eagle Awards, and the Gerald C. Brown Mentoring Award.

The Academy’s three major events—Golden Eagle Awards Dinner, Fellows Investiture Ceremony, and one of the AOF Luncheons (sometimes in conjunction with a Conclave)—are held together each March in the Washington, D.C. area as part of SAME Capital Week.

Golden Eagle Awards Dinner

This premier formal awards dinner recognizes two outstanding Americans: one, an SAME Fellow, for their contributions to the A/E/C profession; and the other, often a non-member, for their contributions to national security. The evening also includes a networking reception.

Fellows Investiture Ceremony

The new Class of Fellows is invested into the Academy of Fellows each year during a ceremony preceding the Golden Eagle Awards Dinner. The ceremony includes presentation of the Gerald C. Brown Mentoring Award, which is given annually to an SAME Fellow for outstanding mentoring and support of the SAME mission.

Academy of Fellows Luncheons

These events serve as a means for Fellows to come together during major SAME National events to discuss issues and network. Current and new Fellows are welcome to attend, network, and hear presentations on topics of interest to the Academy of Fellows.  There is usually an RSVP option on event registrations for you to note your attendance. The event is only open to Fellows.

Academy of Fellows Townhall Meetings

AOF Townhall Meetings are a great way to get information in a virtual face-to-face manner.  Fellows can hear directly from the Chair and Vice Chairs about different initiatives, upcoming events, and Society news that is relevant to Fellows.  The format allows for questions, sharing of information, and direct communication with the AOF Executive Committee.  Dates and times are distributed to RFPOCs for further distribution.  This allows the AOF to utilize the established structure to test communication effectiveness.

 

Fellows Awards Program

Fellows Awards Program

The SAME Academy of Fellows presents three awards each year—the Golden Eagle Award for Contributions to National Security, the Golden Eagle Award for Contributions to the A/E/C Profession, and the Gerald C. Brown Mentoring Award.

Golden Eagle Award

The Academy of Fellows will honor two outstanding Americans: an SAME Fellow for outstanding contributions to the engineering profession; and a prominent leader for significant contributions to national security. The Golden Eagle Dinner is a prestigious event where all members of the government and military engineering, construction and architecture industries are encouraged to attend. Golden Eagle Award nominations are handled through the Academy of Fellows leadership.

Gerald C. Brown Mentoring Award

SAME created a Mentoring Award in 2005 to recognize Fellows for outstanding mentoring efforts. In 2009, the award was renamed the Gerald C. Brown Mentoring Award in honor of Brig. Gen. Gerald C. “Jed” Brown, USA (Ret.), who chaired the Working Group that formalized organizing the Fellows into an Academy in 1994 and served as the first chair in 1995.

Academy of Fellows

History of the SAME Academy of Fellows

Read or download the history

List of Fellows

Historical SAME Fellows Listing

Read or download the full list of fellows

2018 Investiture

SAME 2018 Academy of Fellows
Investiture Ceremony

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2017 Investiture

SAME 2017 Academy of Fellows Investiture Ceremony

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2016 Investiture

SAME 2016 Academy of Fellows Investiture Ceremony

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2015 Investiture

SAME 2015 Academy of Fellows Investiture Ceremony

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“I urge you to approach this honor of being invested as a Fellow not as a moment in time, or a professional ‘lifetime achievement award’ of sorts. Rather, I urge you to approach your new status as Fellow as the start of a new opportunity, a charge to be a role model, a charge to be a mentor, and a charge to share all you have learned with future leaders with whom much can be shared, and just as much learned.”

-Heather Wishart-Smith, P.E., PMP, LEED AP, F.SAME, F.ASCE, 2018 Gerald C. Brown Mentoring Awardee

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