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Quantum Coders Society
Founded MMXIV
Office of the Board of Governors
335 Madison Avenue, Suite 800
New York, NY 10017 · USA
Our ref: FQC/26/VM47 October 26, 2026
Dr. Elena Vasquez
Senior Member, Quantum Coders Society
Membership No. QCS-K7T2-M9Q4
Cupertino, California, United States
Fellow Membership Invitation

Dear Dr. Vasquez,

It is my distinct honor, on behalf of the Fellow Committee and the Board of Governors, to formally invite you to join the Quantum Coders Society in the grade of Fellow, the highest mark of distinction the Society can confer and one held by fewer than one-half of one percent of the membership.

Before turning to the substance of this invitation, I want to share something I rarely have occasion to write. Under Article IV of the Bylaws, a recommendation for election requires the affirmative vote of no fewer than three-quarters of the Fellow Committee, and most successful candidates clear that bar narrowly. Your candidacy did not. After reviewing your dossier, every voting member of the Committee, twelve Fellows and two laureate judges, returned an affirmative vote, fourteen of fourteen. A unanimous recommendation is uncommon, and it reflects a genuine consensus among your reviewers that your record is not merely sufficient for Fellowship but materially exceeds the standard. As President, I am personally delighted to deliver this news.

The grade of Fellow is reserved for individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary ability and sustained original contribution to the computing sciences. The Committee evaluated your candidacy against the qualifications set out in Article II of the Bylaws, and I want to walk through its reasoning in some detail, because you should hear, in concrete terms, why this decision was so straightforward.

Quantum Coders Society
1.
Original Contributions of Major Significance to the Field
Your error-correction research, published in Nature and Nature Computational Science, was singled out by every reviewer. Surface-code decoding at competition scale is a consequential challenge facing fault-tolerant systems today, and your methods, cited well beyond the threshold Article II ordinarily requires, were viewed by the Committee as a defining contribution.
2.
Competitive Distinction at the Highest Level
Your victory at Quantum Invitational II, run on Google's quantum hardware in Santa Barbara before the laureate panel, remains one of the most discussed performances in Society history, and your seasons on the circuit since have kept you at the very top of the global leaderboard. The Committee regarded this as sustained excellence across the most demanding format the Society offers.
3.
Duration and Standing of Professional Practice
Your record comprises more than ten years of professional practice in quantum computing and allied fields, together with five consecutive years as a Senior Member in good standing. The Committee found the thresholds of Article II(a) and II(b) comfortably met, and noted that your standing relative to peers in the quantum engineering community sits well above the bar.
4.
Service as a Judge and Evaluator of Others' Work
Your seasons evaluating Invitational submissions and mentoring Collegiate Cup finalists were sufficient for the Committee; your assessments were described by the judging panel as models of rigor and fairness. We would encourage you to expand this dimension further as a Fellow, as the Society benefits considerably from your standard-setting.
5.
Unimpeachable Ethical Standing
Beyond your technical record, the Committee found your conduct free of any sanction under the Code of Conduct, and reviewers described your sportsmanship on the circuit as exemplary, precisely the character the grade exists to recognize.

To summarize: the standard for Fellowship is extraordinary ability and sustained original contribution. Your record satisfies the standard at every dimension the Committee examined, and on the question of original contribution in particular. The unanimous vote was, in the Committee's words, the natural conclusion.

Quantum Coders Society

If you accept this invitation, you will join a small community of Fellows entrusted with shaping the Society's judging standards, evaluating future Fellow nominations, and contributing to the problem-setting, championships, and publications through which the Society advances the state of competitive computing. As a Fellow you will hold the post-nominal designation FQC, a lifetime waiver of all dues, eligibility for appointment to the judging panel and to the Fellow Committee itself, and honorary standing at the World Finals.

I would be grateful if you could confirm your acceptance in writing to the Secretary by November 7, 2026, so that your certificate may be prepared for the induction ceremony, to be held during the World Finals XIII in Tokyo on November 14, 2026. Should you have any questions about the grade, its responsibilities, or the induction, please write to me directly. It would be a privilege to welcome you formally at the ceremony.

With sincere congratulations and warm regards,

Evelyn Marsh
Dr. Evelyn Marsh
President, Board of Governors
Quantum Coders Society
Ref FQC/26/VM47 Verify at quantumcoders.org/verify Certificate No. FQC-X8K2-T4MQ