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In 1955 the Jellinek Memorial Fund was established to commemorate Dr. E. M. Jellinek's great contribution to the field of ALCOHOL studies. A capital fund was developed and the interest from this fund has been used to provide an annual cash award to a scientist who has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of knowledge in the alcohol/alcoholism field. The first award was presented in 1968.

Each year the board of directors of the Jellinek Memorial Fund designates the specific area of research for which the award will be made and appoints an Expert Selection Committee to review candidates and recommend an appropriate awardee. The awardee may be selected from any country, the sole criterion being the scientific contribution that the person has made within the selected category. The award is traditionally presented at a major international conference and, if necessary, travel and accommodation expenses are provided to permit the winner to attend the conference for the presentation. The following general criteria have been accepted by the board and by previous selection committees as guidelines:

1. The award is to be given to the person deemed to have made, during the preceding years, the greatest scholarly contribution to human knowledge of problems relating to alcohol, in the designated research area.
2. The person selected for the award should be someone who would provide an example and serve as a model for others who might be attracted to work in the field.
3. Only living scientists should be considered for the award.
4. Advanced age or impending retirement would not disqualify someone from candidacy. However, if two or more scientists were considered approximately equal, the one more likely to continue longer in the field would be favored.
5. If the outstanding contribution of a candidate was made more than ten years ago, consideration for the award would require evidence of the candidate's continuing interest and active participation in alcohol research.
6. Other factors being equal, the person would be favored whose primary identification continued to be in the field.
7. If a member of the Expert Selection Committee is deemed eligible for the Jellinek Award, the chair of the selection committee should consult with the president and request the resignation of the committee member.
8. If a previous award winner becomes a candidate and appears equal to or above all other candidates on the basis of unique new achievements, he or she should not be ruled ineligible. The chair of the selection committee should consult with the president to ensure that the award is for new achievement and determine if he or she is eligible.
9. The award will normally be made to an individual researcher most highly recommended by the selection committee. In special circumstances, if the selection committee recommends two persons of equal and outstanding merit, a joint award may be made to the two.

In 1999, the award was given in the category of epidemiology and population studies jointly to Kaye Middleton Fillmore and Alexander Wagenaar. Fillmore, a School of Nursing adjunct professor in the Department of Social & Behaviorial Sciences and the Center for Health & Community, received the award for her contribution to the basic understanding of the life course of drinking and of alcohol problems in a multinational context. Wagenaar, Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Alcohol Epidemiology Program at the School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, received the award for lifetime achievement in community intervention and policy evaluation research on alcohol.