A Paul Harris Fellow is a recognition from The Rotary Foundation. It is named after Paul Harris, who founded the first Rotary club in Chicago in 1905. People often see the phrase on a pin, a certificate, or a club page and want to know what it actually means. The official meaning is about giving to The Rotary Foundation, not about holding a club office.
The official definition
On its Paul Harris Society page, Rotary International says the Paul Harris Fellow was established in 1957 to show appreciation for contributions that support the Annual Fund, PolioPlus, or an approved Foundation grant. Paul Harris Fellows recognize cumulative giving, or gifts made in one's honor, of US$1,000 or more to The Rotary Foundation.
Rotary's timeline of that period says the same thing in shorter form: Paul Harris Fellow recognition was established in 1957 to show appreciation for and encourage substantial contributions to the Foundation.
The recognition can be given because a person has given that amount over time, or because a gift was made in that person's honor. The official page is the source for that point. This article does not add unofficial rules about who may be recognized.
Paul Harris Fellow and the Paul Harris Society are not the same
The same official page draws a clear line between the two.
A Paul Harris Fellow recognizes cumulative giving, or honoree gifts, of US$1,000 or more.
The Paul Harris Society, which Rotary says became an official Rotary Foundation recognition program in 2013-14, recognizes individuals who notify The Rotary Foundation of their intent to contribute US$1,000 or more each year to any combination of named funds. The page lists those funds as Annual Fund-SHARE, Annual Fund-World Fund, Annual Fund-Areas of Focus, PolioPlus Fund, Disaster Response Fund, Disasters of Magnitude, and approved global grants.
In short, one recognition looks at a total over time. The other looks at a planned annual gift of US$1,000 or more. A person might hold one, both, or neither. This page does not guess at anyone's giving.
Who Paul Harris was
According to Rotary's Our History page, Paul Harris was a Chicago attorney who formed the Rotary Club of Chicago on 23 February 1905. He wanted professionals with diverse backgrounds to exchange ideas and form lasting friendships.
The timeline page records that Paul Harris died on 27 January 1947. After his death, Rotary told members of his desire that, in lieu of flowers, they make contributions to the Foundation. Members contributed more than US$1 million in his memory in the following 18 months, and that money was used to support the Foundation's scholarship program. Those figures are Rotary's, from the official timeline, not from this club.
The Fellow recognition came later, in 1957, as a way to thank and encourage substantial Foundation giving.
How this relates to giving
Because the recognition is tied to The Rotary Foundation, the usual path is a gift to the Foundation itself. Rotary's public giving page is Ways to Give. A longer explanation of Foundation gifts is on The Rotary Foundation and how donations work.
Supporting a local club project is a different path. The Rotary Club of Cebu East explains club-level support on its Support our work page. A gift to the club is not automatically a Paul Harris Fellow gift unless it is handled as a contribution to The Rotary Foundation under the Foundation's rules. For either path, you can email our club president at cardwell.marc@gmail.com and ask.
Paul Harris Fellows in this club
The Rotary Club of Cebu East keeps a Paul Harris Fellows page. That page lists current members who are Paul Harris Fellows, including Henrik Andersson, David Sharpe, Alex Gaisano and Wilbert Uykingtian, and it keeps the list the old website published as a historical reference.
This article does not add names, years, or totals. A later News & Stories piece is planned around that club list. If you need a current list, ask the club president.
Questions people ask
Does becoming a Paul Harris Fellow make someone a Rotary club member?
No. The official definition is a Foundation recognition for cumulative giving, or a gift in someone's honor, of US$1,000 or more. Club membership is a separate process, described in How to join a Rotary club in Cebu.
Is the Paul Harris Society the same as a Paul Harris Fellow?
No. Rotary says the Fellow recognition is cumulative, and the Society recognizes an intent to give US$1,000 or more each year to specified Foundation funds.
Can I see this club's Fellows?
Yes. The historical list the old website published is at Paul Harris Fellows.
Sources
Facts about Rotary International on this page come from rotary.org, checked in November 2026. Facts about the Rotary Club of Cebu East come from pages recovered for this site.
- Paul Harris Society, Rotary International, which also defines the Paul Harris Fellow
- Rotary's Timeline: Cultivating Leaders
- Our History, Rotary International
- Paul Harris Fellows page of the Rotary Club of Cebu East