The ICMI Awards Committee (AC) is made of six distinguished scholars in the field of mathematics education. They are appointed by the President of ICMI, after consultation with the Executive Committee and with other scholars in the field. The active members of the AC, except for its chair, are not made known. Only at the time when the terms of committee members expire are their names made public. The term of appointment of the AC members is eight years and non-renewable, with three of the members being replaced each four years. One of the three remaining members is then appointed as the committee chair by the President of ICMI. Members of the ICMI Executive Committee are ineligible for membership in the AC.

The Awards Committee is completely autonomous once appointed. Its work and records are kept internal and confidential, except for the obvious process of soliciting advice and information from the professional community, which is done by the committee chair. The AC has full authority in selecting the awardees. Its decision is final and is reported, in confidence, to the ICMI EC via the President of ICMI.

The first ICMI Awards Committee, chaired by Professor Michèle Artigue of Université Paris Diderot – Paris 7 in France, ended its term in December 2006, and was then partially renewed. Besides the chair, the AC members then completing their term were Professors Richard Noss from the University of London and Anna Sfard from the University of Haifa.  Three new members were appointed in January 2007 and the chair of the AC was Professor Mogens Niss, from Roskilde University in Denmark till the end of 2010. In January 2011 three members ended their term (the chair, Deborah Ball and Frederick Leung), three new members were appointed and the new chair will be Carolyn Kieran, from the Département de Mathématiques, Université du Québec à Montréal in Canada.

ICMI Awards Committee 2002-2006
    Michèle Artigue (Chair)
    Richard Noss
    Anna Sfard
    Mogens Niss
    Deborah Ball
    Frederick Leung

ICMI Awards Committee 2007-2010
    Mogens Niss (Chair)
    Deborah Ball
    Frederick Leung
    three other members

ICMI Awards Committee 2011-2014
    Carolyn Kieran (Chair)
    five other members