Mensa Foundation Newsroom

The Mensa Education and Research Foundation is celebrating 50 years of fostering intelligent solutions to real-world problems. Five decades of service have touched many lives, from scholarship and award winners to educators and researchers to our generous and thoughtful donors.

The Mensa Education and Research Foundation has appointed Michelle Rakshys, an Amazon executive, and Nguyen Pham, a Circlepoint marketing and communications manager, as Trustees to its Board.

The Mensa Foundation is accepting nominations for its third Mensa Foundation Prize, which rewards breakthroughs in the studies of intelligence. Presented biennially, the $10,000 prize was endowed by the estate of Kenneth Douglas Thomson.

The Mensa Foundation is honored to recognize Lisa Lewis and Aakash Chowkase with its gifted education fellowships, supporting the pair as they pursure graduate degrees and help to better our understanding the field of gifted education.

The Mensa Foundation is honored to recognize Dr. Walters, whose research and instructional approach exemplifies the Foundation’s mission to use intelligence to benefit humanity.

Helping scientists gain systems-level understanding of immunology, the impact of Dr. Wertheim’s innovations is hard to overstate, considering that the human race relies on the immune system for survival and the ongoing challenges of creating a vaccine for COVID-19.

Nominated by Mensa member Ingrid Bianca Byerly, Ms. Maull has taught students who became luminary musicians and educational influencers in Africa, Europe, Asia, and America. “She championed unique assets and tended individual challenges,” Ms. Byerly said.

For only the second time, the accomplishments of a single nominee have earned that Mensan two Mensa Foundation awards. The Foundation is proud to recognize Dr. Mayank Kejriwal’s work using AI to identify and prevent sexual exploitation with both the 2019 Copper Black Award for Creative Achievement and Intellectual Benefits to Society Award.

Recognizing her work as a gifted and talented teacher in Washington Township, N.J., her service in both state and national associations for gifted children, and her ambition to provide an educational environment that fosters creativity and critical thinking, the Mensa Foundation is proud to award Lynne Henwood with its inaugural Gifted Education Fellowship.

Four esteemed digital privacy experts — a top legal scholar on internet surveillance and the Fourth Amendment, a leading digital civil liberties advocate, a data policy expert, and a journalist who focuses on law and technology — will speak at the Mensa Foundation’s 2019 Colloquium — Privacy in the 21st Century: Mystery or Myth.

Professor Aron K. Barbey has been awarded the second Mensa Foundation Prize for his innovative research and significant advancement of the neuroscience of brain connectivity.

The Mensa Foundation seeks nominees for its Foundation Prize, which rewards breakthroughs in the studies of intelligence and creativity. The award is presented biennially by Mensa’s philanthropic arm, the Mensa Education & Research Foundation, was endowed by the estate of Kenneth Douglas Thomson, and includes a $10,000 prize.

The Mensa Education and Research Foundation announces the appointment of three new trustees to its Board of Directors. The three new trustees are Jennifer Wise, Vicki Herd, and Keri Guilbault.

Mensa for Kids is preparing for the Great American Eclipse by providing parents and teachers a free lesson plan. The plan includes learning opportunities and activities, as well as precautions for safely viewing the eclipse.

Creator of the successful “Sit with Us” mobile app, 16-year-old Natalie Hampton is being recognized for her creative use of technology to deter bullying and, furthermore, for her work as an anti-bullying advocate.

David Silver, who led Google’s efforts to develop the first computer program to defeat the world’s best Go players, has been recognized by Mensa with an inaugural award honoring discoveries in intelligence and creativity. The award recognizes both applied and fundamental discoveries in areas such as brain-related research, creation of tools and mechanisms for advancing such research, or any significant research that leads to an improved understanding of human intelligence, including artificial intelligence.

Author and New York Times correspondent Dr. Sheri Fink joins Orlando Regional Medical Center trauma director Dr. Joseph Ibrahim and infectious disease expert Dr. Michael Osterholm to discuss how working in exceptional circumstances can lead to exceptional ideas and solutions.

The high-IQ society's philanthropic arm will recognize and reward breakthroughs in the studies of intelligence and creativity with a new biennial award of $10,000.