The IEEE Information Theory Society Claude E. Shannon Award is given annually for consistent and profound contributions to the field of information theory. Award winners are expected to deliver the Shannon Lecture at the annual IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory held in the year of the award. This year, for the first time, the Shannon Award Committee has decided to issue an open call for nominations. Although anyone may make a nomination, the Committee retains the responsibility of assuring that a suitable slate of candidates is nominated, and may itself generate nominations. Nominations and optional letters of endorsement must be submitted by March 1 to the current President of the IEEE Information Theory Society. In 2009 the President will be Prof. Andrea Goldsmith ( andrea AT wsl DOT stanford DOT edu ). A nomination form is available on the Shannon Award page.