Lifetime Achievement Award winners

Dr. Don Ambrose, 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award winner
2023: Dr. Don Ambrose

Recognized for his interdisciplinary scholarly work on giftedness, Dr. Don Ambrose is Professor Emeritus of Graduate Studies at Rider University and editor of the Roeper Review.

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Dr. Françoys Gagné, 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award winner
2022: Dr. Françoys Gagné

Dr. Françoys Gagné is being honored for his long-term investment and realizations in the analysis and promotion of intellectual giftedness and academic talent development — aka gifted education.

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Dr. Joseph S. Renzulli, 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award winner
2021: Dr. Joseph S. Renzulli

Dr. Joseph Renzulli was recognized with the Mensa Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his decades of research and advocacy resulting in the development of better methods of identifying and developing creativity and giftedness and breakthrough organizational models and curricular strategies.

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Dean Keith Simonton, 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award winner
2019: Dr. Dean Keith Simonton

Dr. Simonton received the Mensa Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his prolific research and academic career, a litany of academic awards — including three Awards for Excellence in Research, and his advancement of the field of intelligence research and human behavior.

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Dr. Howard Gardner, 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award winner
2017: Dr. Howard Gardner

In recognition of his exceptional body of work in research and theory, the Mensa Foundation, on behalf of the Research Review Committee, is proud to present its 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Howard Gardner.

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David Lubinski, 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award winner
2015: David Lubinski

Dr. David Lubinski was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award in July for his work focusing on the identification of different types of intellectually precocious youth and the conditions for enhancing their learning, work performance and creativity.

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Dr. Rena Subotnik, 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award winner
2013: Dr. Rena Subotnik

Dr. Rena Subotnik received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mensa Foundation for her extensive contributions to the needs of high-performing children and adolescents.

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Joyce VanTassel-Baska, 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award winner
2011: Joyce VanTassel-Baska, Ed.D.

Joyce VanTassel-Baska, Ed.D., received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mensa Foundation for her vast contributions to the field of education. The award was presented in a ceremony preceding the National Association of Gifted Children Convention in New Orleans.

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Tracy Cross, 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award winner
2009: Tracy Cross, Ph.D.

The Mensa Foundation has honored Dr. Tracy L. Cross, executive director of the Center for Gifted Education and a professor at the College of William and Mary, with its Lifetime Achievement Award. He received the award based on his dedication to research in the field of gifted students over the span of 15 years.

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Dr. Jane Piirto, 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award winner
2007: Dr. Jane Piirto

The Mensa Foundation presented Dr. Jane M. Piirto of Ashland, Ohio, with the 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award for research in the area of human intelligence, especially giftedness.

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Camilla Benbow, Ed.D., 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award winner
2004: Camilla Benbow, Ed.D.

The Mensa Foundation presented Dr. Camilla Benbow of Vanderbilt University, with the 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award for research in the area of gifted youth in an effort to identify different types of academically talented adolescents, characterize them and then discover effective ways to facilitate their development.

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John F. Feldhusen, Ph.D., 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award winner
2002: John F. Feldhusen, Ph.D.

The Mensa Foundation presented John F. Feldhusen, Ph.D., with the Lifetime Achievement Award as the founding Director of the Gifted Education Resource Institute at Purdue, an institute dedicated to increasing our understanding of the nature and nurture of gifted individuals.

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Dr. K. Warner Schaie, 2001 Lifetime Achievement Award winner
2001: Dr. K. Warner Schaie

For his body of scientific inquiry, his influence in shaping the field of geropsychology, and for the success of his students in their own careers, Dr. K. Warner Schaie was named the recipient of the Mensa Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001.

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Dr. Julian Stanley, 2000 Lifetime Achievement Award winner
2000: Dr. Julian Stanley

Dr. Julian Stanley, professor emeritus at Johns Hopkins University, has done more to change the way gifted middle schoolers are educated than any other individual, and, as a result, he was selected by the Mensa Foundation as the winner of its first Lifetime Achievement Award.

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