In addition to the regular annual awards conferred by vote of the membership, the Board of Governors is empowered to vote Scientific and Technical Awards, Honorary Awards, Special Achievement Awards and other special honors. Among these is the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, a bronze bust of Thalberg, which is given to "a creative producer who has been responsible for a consistently high quality of motion picture production." It is considered the highest accolade a producer can receive.

The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, an Oscar statuette, is given to "an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry." The Gordon E. Sawyer Award, also an Oscar statuette, is given to "an individual in the motion picture industry whose technological contributions have brought credit to the industry." The Thalberg, Hersholt and Sawyer Awards are not necessarily given annually; each is awarded only when, in the opinion of the Board of Governors, there is a thoroughly deserving recipient.

The Scientific and Technical Awards are made by the Board of Governors acting upon recommendations from a committee consisting of some of the world's most eminent cinema scientists and technicians, to recognize outstanding innovations in filmmaking equipment and tech-nique. These innovations must prove themselves over time, not in connection with one particular motion picture.

Honorary Awards may be given for outstanding achievements not otherwise recognized within the category structure of the Academy Awards. They may be given for exceptional distinction in lifetime achievement exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences or for outstanding service to the Academy. They have been awarded, for example, to Walt Disney for the creation of Mickey Mouse, to Yakima Canutt for achievements as a stunt man and to director Akira Kurosawa for making movies that have inspired audiences around the world.

Special Achievement Awards, conferred by the Board of Governors, may be given for an achievement which makes an exceptional contribution to the motion picture for which it was created, but for which there is no annual award category. They've been given, for example, to Benjamin Burtt Jr. for the creation of the alien, creature and robot voices in "Star Wars" (1977) and to John Lasseter for his leadership of the Pixar team that created the first feature-length computer-animated film, "Toy Story" (1995).