Foundation News

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Keep up with the latest Mensa Foundation news and events by subscribing to Foundation Impact, a quarterly newsletter designed to keep Mensa members, donors, and the public updated on the projects and people of the Mensa Foundation.

Each issue features new programs, upcoming events, and profiles of the people who support the Foundation’s work.

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Colloquium: Giftedness Across the Lifespan: The Talent and Potential of Neurodiversity

The Mensa Foundation’s work to better understand and support intelligence and giftedness across the lifespan continues with Colloquium 2023 and its focus on the talent and potential of neurodiversity.

By Foundation Staff
MRJ Examines Becoming Creative

This issue of Mensa Research Journal explores creativity in problem solving, planning, and making the world a more interesting place to experience.

By Lisa DaVia Rubenstein and Krista Stith, Guest Editors
Foundation Awards: Nominations Are Open

Mensa Foundation seeks nominations for Awards for Excellence in Research, the Lifetime Achievement Award, the Copper Black Award for Creative Achievement, the Gifted Education Fellowship, the Dissertation Mini-Grant, and the Early Career Researcher Mini-Grant.

By Foundation Staff
Genes and Intelligence: A Mensa Foundation Prize Winner Discusses Groundbreaking Findings

Dr. Danielle Posthuma, 2021 Mensa Foundation Prize winner, details her award-winning research into genetic correlations with intelligence.

By Chip Taulbee
Celebrating the 2021 Awards for Excellence in Research Recipients

In conjunction with the celebration of its 50th anniversary, the Mensa Foundation recently announced its 2021 research award winners. The winter issue of the Mensa Research Journal is dedicated to honoring those award winners and sharing some of the fascinating work representing their achievements.

By Jeff Papa, Ph.D., Mensa Research Journal Editor-in-Chief
Foundation Awards: More Than an Honor

Mensa Foundation seeks nominations for Awards for Excellence in Research, the Lifetime Achievement Award, the Copper Black Award for Creative Achievement, the International Intellectual Benefits to Society Award, the Distinguished Teacher Award, the Gifted Education Fellowship, the Dissertation Mini-Grant, and the Early Career Researcher Mini-Grant.

By Foundation Staff
Looking Beyond the Bell Curve

Join us July 5 in Sparks, Nev., for the Mensa Foundation’s 2022 Colloquium: Giftedness Across the Lifespan: A More Complete Picture, where we’ll explore the latest work on giftedness — research and ideas that will expand our understanding of intelligence, high ability, and giftedness across the entire lifespan.

By John Thompson, Philanthropy Director
The Experiential Learning Theories of Drs. Alice and David Kolb

The Fall Mensa Research Journal explores the four-step learning cycle theorized by Drs. Alice and David Kolb: a recursive loop of experiencing, reflecting, thinking, and acting. Drawing on this concept, we investigate the theory’s application across various higher education concentrations.

By Jeff Papa, Ph.D., MRJ Editor-in-Chief
2021 Mensa Foundation Award Winners Announced

We’re honored to recognize a pioneer in the field of genetics and intelligence research, educators advocating for equitable practices in gifted education, and researchers whose groundbreaking discoveries advance our understanding of intellectual giftedness.

Revisiting the Work of Mensa Foundation Award Winners

For 50 years, the Mensa Foundation has championed research into the nature of intelligence and creativity that works toward a better understanding of the human condition. In the summer issue of the Mensa Research Journal, we check in with past award winners to explore their contemporary work and visions for the future.

By Marie Mayer, Interim MRJ Editor
At 50, the Mensa Foundation Sees a Bright Future Unleashing Intelligence

The Mensa Foundation is celebrating 50 years of unleashing intelligence for the benefit of humanity. Its scholarship program has benefitted learners of all ages. Grants and awards have helped recognize and advance important research while promoting pragmatic solutions. And gifted youth benefit from special programming.

By Michelle Rakshys, Mensa Foundation Trustee
Perspectives on Forgetting

There are plenty of articles and a considerable body of research on the topic of memory, but what about memory’s counterpart: forgetting? In the winter issue of the Mensa Research Journal, we explore the role memories play in our emotional lives, the dance between memory and emotions, and the many perspectives on forgetting as well as the useful purposes it can serve.

By Marie Mayer, Interim MRJ Editor
Foundation Elevates Two Seasoned Volunteers to Board

The Mensa Foundation exists to provide resources and opportunities to nurture and celebrate intelligence. The two newest members of the Foundation Board of Trustees, Nguyen Pham and Michelle Rakshys, embody that commitment and passion.

Celebrating a Lifetime of Achievement: The Researcher Behind the Flynn Effect

In the fall Mensa Research Journal, we explore the life’s work of Dr. James Robert Flynn, Mensa Foundation International Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and a prolific researcher, charismatic professor, and thought-provoking philosopher in search of answers to the question, “What is intelligence?”

By Marie Mayer, Mensa Research Journal Interim Editor
Scholarship Essay Judges Needed

Helping college students achieve their academic and career goals is a great opportunity to give back and support the next generation of leaders. Volunteer today to help support the Mensa Foundation’s Scholarship Program.

By Jane Gmur, National Scholarships Assistant Chair
Your Support Makes Higher Education More Affordable

You are driving up the number of scholarship recipients as well as their awards, helping pave smoother educational paths for students around the world. And several new scholarships and increased award amounts set students up to unleash their intelligence.

2020 Mensa Foundation Award Winners Announced

This year, we’re honored to recognize a pioneer in the field of intelligence research, innovators whose creations serve to benefit disadvantaged individuals, researchers whose groundbreaking discoveries advance our understanding of the human body and mind, and educators who seek to ensure that the identification of gifted individuals is fair, equitable, and free of bias.

Beauty, Music, Movement, and the Mind

How much can science tell us about the ways humans experience aesthetic expressions? Inside the summer issue of the Mensa Research Journal, we examine an innovative but controversial area of neuroscience research: neuroaesthetics, or how the arts affect our cognition, psychology, and more.

By Marie Mayer, Interim MRJ Editor
At-home Learning Resources for Kids

With so many families finding it necessary to transform their homes into makeshift classrooms, the Mensa Foundation is here to help. MensaforKids.com features a curated lists of free and low-cost educational resources to enrich your child’s mind and ignite their excitement about learning.

Inside the Winter 2020 Mensa Research Journal

Explore the papers recognized by the 2018-19 Mensa Foundation Awards for Excellence in Research, including “Identifying Gifted Minority Students,” “Screening and Challenging Gifted Students,” “Sex Differences in Cognitive Ability,” and “Parents’ Perceptions of STEM Programs.” Plus research on handedness, language, and genetics; optimism and longevity; perceptual prediction; and a book review: In Search of Emotions.

By Marie Mayer, Interim MRJ Editor