The Paul Harris Fellowship Award is one of the highest honours Rotary can bestow upon a person. Community recipients and local Rotary Club member recipients are awarded Paul Harris Fellowships to recognize their outstanding contributions to their communities while exemplifying the high ideals of Rotary when they place "Service Above Self".
The honour accompanies a donation by the Rotary Club of Bowmanville in the recipients name of $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation which supports Rotary's world-wide programs.
Rotary established the recognition in 1957 to encourage and show appreciation for substantial contributions to what was then the Foundation’s only program, Rotary Foundation Fellowships for Advanced Study, the precursor to Ambassadorial Scholarships.
The first Paul Harris Fellows included past RI Director Allison G. Brush, who served during the 1937-38 Rotary year, and longtime RI Treasurer Rufus F. Chapin, both for donations made in 1946. Mrs. Adan Vargas was the first woman to receive the recognition, for a gift made in 1953. Mrs. Harry L. Jones was the second, and one of only five people recognized for contributions actually made in that inaugural year.
The number of Paul Harris Fellows reached the 1 million mark in 2006, including the following from the Bowmanville club!
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