Silhouette of an original John Deere plow surrounded by a green starburst

John Deere
Fellows Program

Rewarding Our Top Experts

The John Deere Fellows Program 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.

 

2022 Fellows Award Winners

2021 Fellows

Last Year's Winners

  • Dr. William F. Cooper sitting by a microscope

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    Physics Electronics Materials

    Dr. William F. Cooper, Advanced Engineering Manager, has benefited those who expect an industry-leading level of quality in John Deere products.

  • Portrait of Dr. Günter Hähn

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    Road Construction Technology

    Dr. Günter Hähn, Senior Vice President Operations - Wirtgen Group, is the first Wirtgen employee to earn the honorable John Deere Fellow Award.

  • Portrait of Gregory Finch

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    Digital Technology

    Gregory C. Finch, Principal Engineer, has been recognized for his leadership necessary to bring cloud adoption to John Deere.

  • Portrait of Steve Sass

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    Heat Transfer & Fluid Dynamics

    Steve Sass has proven so proficient in meeting customer requirements it's led to him being recognized as an expert of heat transfer and fluid dynamics.

  • Glenn Pope standing in front of a combine

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    Crop Harvesting Engineering

    Glenn Pope, known as "The Pope of Combines," has spent more than three decades understanding customer needs and aligning them to product development.

  • Georg Kormann standing by a robotic arm.

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    Integrated Solutions

    Dr. Georg Kormann, engineering manager for hay and forage Advanced Engineering and Tech Integration, has an appreciation for what customers want, expect, and even demand.

John Deere Fellowship Archive

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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

2017

  • ​Dr. Danan Dou: 2017 Power Systems Engineering Fellow
  • Dr. Mohamad El-zein: 2017 Materials Engineering Fellow
  • Shufeng Han: 2017 Automation and Controls Engineering Fellow
  • Juergen Hollstein: 2017 Electronics Engineering Fellow
  • Cory Leland: 2017 Metrology Engineering Fellow
  • Teryl Oftedal: 2017 C&F systems Engineering Fellow
  • Prof. Dr. Peter Pickel: 2017 Agricultural Systems Engineering Fellow
  • Dr. John Reid: 2017 Technology Innovation Fellow
  • Dr. Ramanathan Sugumaran: Honorary Data Science Fellow
  • Richard Wubbels: 2017 Hay and Forage Engineering Fellow

2016

  • Dennis Anstey: 2016 Hay & Forage Systems Engineering Fellow
  • Roger Mohr: 2016 Construction & Forestry Business Development Senior Fellow
  • Terry Pickett: 2016 Intelligent Solutions Fellow
  • Dr. Carol Plouffe: 2016 Soil & Crop Systems Engineering Fellow
  • Craig Puetz: 2016 Drivetrain Engineering Fellow
  • Dr. Bernard Romig: 2016 Vehicle Dynamics Fellow
  • Dr. Nicolai Tarasinski: 2016 Vehicle Systems Engineering Fellow
  • Robert Wick: 2016 Customer Support Fellow
  • Dr. Richard Winsor: 2016 Internal Combustion Engines Fellow

2015

  • John Brown: 2015 Financial Law Fellow
  • Dr. Liwen Dai: 2015 GNSS Engineering Fellow
  • Dr. J.B. Penn: 2015 Global Agricultural Economics Senior Fellow
  • ​Dr. Satyam Sahay: 2015 Materials Engineering Fellow
  • Al Smemo: 2015 Powertrain Engineering Fellow