An IBM Fellow is an appointed position at IBM made by IBM’s CEO. Typically only four to nine (eleven in 2014) IBM Fellows are appointed each year, in May or June. It is the highest honor a scientist, engineer, or programmer at IBM can achieve.The IBM Fellows program was founded in 1962 by Thomas Watson Jr., as a way to promote creativity among the company’s “most exceptional” technical professionals. The first appointments were made in 1963.