History of CSI Fellows
In 1959, the Board of Directors of the Construction Specifications Institute, under the leadership of then-President J. Stewart Stein, FCSI, Honorary Member, voted to honor outstanding individuals by creating two offices of distinction. It chose to elevate Institute members to Fellowship and to award Honorary Membership to non-members whose efforts on behalf of the Institute's purposes and principles have been exemplary. The rules the Board adopted excluded both the Board and industry members from consideration for Fellowship. Acting on those decisions, the Board that year elected the first five Fellows.
In 1960, the rule excluding Board members from consideration for Fellowship was dropped, as was the clause restricting Honorary Membership status to non-members. In addition, the Board created the Jury of Fellows, consisting of three Fellows and three non-Fellows, who would henceforth be responsible for selecting those to be elevated to Fellowship.