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AMS Resources and Response to the Federal Science Crisis
The AMS confers honors and awards (“Honors”) on individuals, including but not limited to AMS members, for significant contributions to the field or interests of the field and are determined in the Society’s judgment and discretion. The Society retains the right to grant, defer, or decline to grant an Honor to any person. The Society also retains the right to revoke or suspend an Honor already granted if, in its judgment and discretion, the Society determines that it is in the best interests of the field to do so. Suspension means the Honor (and the ability of the recipient to exercise any associated privileges and rights) is held in abeyance until notice by the Society that the Honor is reinstated or revoked.
While not the only interest that is critical for excellence in the field, professional ethics is important and is considered by the Society in deciding who should hold an Honor. When the Society awards an Honor, it reflects the Society’s judgment that an individual’s contributions to, and effect on, the field are exemplary. The Society takes into account the effect on the field of the totality of the individual’s work, including professional and ethical conduct and reputation. It expects those who hold Honors to demonstrate that participation in and recognition by the field are privileges; and that the field’s leaders, and others it celebrates, embody highly professional and ethical conduct in their work.
Unethical conduct includes, among other acts, sexual harassment and discrimination based on other factors unrelated to ability and promise (e.g., race and ethnicity), whether alone or intersecting with sexual harassment. These acts perpetuate long standing structural and systemic barriers to full participation of all talent in the field and have immediate adverse impact on individuals and undermine excellence in the field. Unprofessional and unethical conduct may occur in research, learning/teaching, or practice.
In placing heavier weight on what is best for excellence in the field than what is best for any individual, the Society will not confer any Honor on any individual whose professional conduct has been determined to be unethical at a level that warrants the individual not being considered for an Honor. That determination will be based on the Society’s own review or investigation and, if useful in the Society’s discretion, the Society’s consideration of any others’ determinations (and supporting information) made available to the Society.
The Society also will not confer any Honor on any individual whose ethical professional conduct is the subject of a credible question known to the Society, so long as the question has not been finally and favorably determined to the Society’s satisfaction, in its discretion. Determined unethical professional conduct may also justify suspension or revocation of an Honor and a credible but undetermined question of ethical professional conduct may justify suspension. When applying this policy in situations of credible but undetermined questions, the Society is withholding judgment and is not making a statement or determination regarding any individual. Rather, the Society is implementing a preventative measure to support the field’s priority efforts to break down longstanding barriers to excellence.
All individuals are required to self-report if they are currently under investigation or have been convicted of scientific misconduct, or a serious criminal activity that violates the AMS Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct when they have been selected to receive an AMS award. Nominations for awards and recognition will include a statement that to the best of knowledge of the nominator, the nominee is not currently under investigation and has not been convicted of scientific misconduct or criminal activity. Individuals being recognized with an Honor must complete an AMS Professional Conduct Disclosure Form.
A member may request in writing that the AMS Council provide an exemption from this reporting requirement when the violation is older than 10 years, steps have been taken to mitigate the violation (through such actions as education, supervision, or settlement), or there are other mitigating circumstances that the AMS should consider.
The Society’s conferral of an honor or award is an exercise of its discretion, not an obligation. The Society, in its discretion, may suspend or revoke an honor if its assessment of the recipient’s actual or potential impact on the field changes for any mission-driven reason.