AMS Fellows Revocation Policy

Adopted by AMS Council January 5, 2021

Fellows of the AMS represent the Society and are expected to maintain a high standard of professional ethics. The Society reserves the right to revoke the title of AMS Fellow from those Fellows whom it deems to have fallen below this standard.

Behaviors that may result in Fellowship revocation include research misconduct, as well as actions that betray the promise of an inclusive environment. The former includes offenses such as plagiarism or theft of intellectual property. Examples of the latter include sexual harassment, racial discrimination, and retaliation (or the threat thereof) for the reporting of these or other ethical lapses. The revocation policy is primarily but not exclusively directed toward professional ethics: the AMS reserves the right to consider ethical standards in other venues insofar as the Fellow's behavior may reflect poorly on the Society and the profession. 

Evidence for deciding on Fellowship revocation will consist exclusively of findings by institutions such as employers, colleges and universities, government agencies, other societies, and the AMS itself when the issue arose under AMS jurisdiction. The AMS will not perform any independent investigation of ethical violations not occurring under its own auspices.

The process of Fellowship revocation is initiated by a request to the Prize Oversight Committee (POC), which can be made anonymously via the AMS website. The POC will contact institutions to corroborate their findings. Should the POC deem the findings to be sufficiently grave, the respondent will be contacted, presented with the evidence, and given the opportunity to make a statement; the respondent may also choose to resign the AMS Fellowship.

The POC will then vote on a recommendation to the Council. The final decision will be taken by the AMS Council and is not subject to appeal.

Reports can be made confidentially and anonymously to 1-855-282-5703 or at www.mathsociety.ethicspoint.com. The reporting mechanism ensures the respect of privacy while alerting the AMS to the situation.