John Deere Fellows Program
Rewarding Our Top Experts
The John Deere Fellow Award is the highest level of individual recognition to employees who have contributed to John Deere's success through deep expertise in their functional areas, demonstrated leadership, and their reputation inside and outside the company.
At John Deere, we recognize and celebrate our innovative thinkers, leaders, and doers who steer us into the future and, with a shared higher purpose, enable lives to leap forward.
2024 Fellow Award Winners
Dr. Bradley W. Van De Woestyne
Agronomic Sciences Fellow
Van De Woestyne focuses on eliminating a grower’s biggest headache — ambiguity. A farmer himself, Van De Woestyne’s work over the past two decades has helped our customers remove the words “it depends” from their business.
Dr. Donald Harby
Engineering Data Sciences Fellow
Harby is like a maestro in full swing, conducting an orchestra of complex simulations powered by the wonders of both machine learning and AI. As senior staff engineer for data science and machine learning, he and his team have had a profound impact on the equipment that John Deere now manufactures.
Dr. Sönke Holst
Strategic Intellectual Property Fellow
Holst's commitment and efficiency in defending intellectual property rights against our competitors is remarkable. It allows Deere to maintain the quality of its inventions at a high level, filing patents with high quality content, and ultimately increasing the value of Deere’s patent portfolio in protecting the company’s innovations and John Deere’s future.
Dr. Marko T. Paakkunainen
Forestry Vehicle Tech Fellow
Paakkunainen, widely recognized as a technical expert in the industry, has focused on cut-to-length (CTL) machines. Considered some of the most complex machines Deere makes, John Deere CTLs have software on board that is connected directly to the mill for communication and optimum cut-to-length parameters. This allows customers, in a sustainable way, to reach maximum value for each tree harvested.
Sébastien Lhopital
Information Technology Fellow
By fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement, Lhopital helps ensure that John Deere not only adapts to the rapid pace of technological change but also stays ahead of it. This involves critically assessing existing processes, encouraging creative problem-solving, and utilizing cutting-edge technologies to enhance productivity and business agility.
Last Year's Winners
Dave Lemm
Principal Engineer
Recognized as a Structural Design & Analysis Fellow, he understands the disruption failure can cause and works to ensure Deere quality and reliability.
Goutam Mohapatra
Staff Engineer
The Materials Engineering Analytics Fellow recipient utilizes artificial intelligence and machine learning to turn the puzzle pieces of production into world-class products.
Shawn Phillips
Smart Connected Factory Manager for Large Tractors and Combines
Having already created one of the company’s most impactful manufacturing tools, our Factory Automation Fellow now looks to advance the technology in our factories.
Mike Waldo
Technologist
As a Software Engineering Fellow, he makes the invisible a powerful and productive solution for our customers and their businesses.
Past Winners
2022
Kurt Chipperfield: 2022 Advanced Visualization Fellow
Clayton Janasek: 2022 Drivetrain Control Fellow
Rich Humpal: 2022 Application Technology Fellow
Lara Baugh: 2022 Risk Management & Insurance Fellow
Kent Wanner: 2022 Electrification Engineering Fellow
2021
Dr. William F. Cooper: 2021 Physics Electronics Materials Fellow
Dr. Günter Hähn: 2021 Road Construction Technology Fellow
Gregory C. Finch: 2021 Digital Technology Fellow
Steve Sass: 2021 Heat Transfer & Fluid Dynamics Fellow
Glenn Pope: 2021 Crop Harvesting Engineering Fellow
Dr. Georg Kormann: 2021 Integrated Solutions Fellow
2020
Dr. Gilles Dryancour: 2020 Public Relations Fellow
Wissam El-Ratal: 2020 Virtual Engineering Fellow
Sue Gray: 2020 Agronomy Fellow
Dr. Brij Singh: 2020 Power Electronics Engineering Fellow
David Smart: 2020 Software & Network Engineering Fellow
2019
August Altherr: 2019 European Innovation Delivery Fellow
Noel Anderson: 2019 Strategic Intellectual Property Fellow
Martin Kremmer: 2019 Technology Innovation Fellow
Carol Lewis: 2019 Human Resource Fellow
Dr. Adrian Rantilla: 2019 Market Research Fellow
2018
Jørgen Audenaert: 2018 European Precision Farming Fellow
Dennis Bowman: 2018 Tractor Engineering Fellow
Dr. Klaus Hoehn: 2018 Technology & Engineering Senior Fellow
Dr. Fred Nelson: 2018 Precision Ag Systems Fellow
Dr. Julian Sanchez: 2018 Technology Innovation Fellow
Dr. Long Wu: 2018 Power Electronics Engineering Fellow