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Deborah Creighton Skinner

PHOTO GALLERY: Celebrating Mensa’s Best and Brightest

Dr. Patricia L. Turner, general surgeon, assistant professor of surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center and medical correspondent for news outlets: “Being a member of Mensa affords me the opportunity to interact with smart, interesting people in whatever way I choose. ... I’ve been a member of Mensa for 25 years.” (Click here for more on joining Mensa)

With more than 57,000 members, American Mensa is the largest national Mensa operating under the auspices of Mensa International Ltd., the organization for people with very high IQs. Mensans range in age from 2-107; are barbers, CEOs, rocket scientists (shocker!), plumbers, and a variety of other professions; and they have a majority of college degrees. BlackEnterprise.com

presents nine African American Mensa members who share
their reasons for joining the august organization. These images are also on display at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
 from June 30-July 3 in conjunction with the American Mensa annual conference.

Dr. Patricia L. Turner, general surgeon, assistant professor of surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center and medical correspondent for news outlets: “Being a member of Mensa affords me the opportunity to interact with smart, interesting people in whatever way I choose. ... I’ve been a member of Mensa for 25 years.” (Click here for more on joining Mensa)more
Valdemar L. Washington, Esq., deputy treasurer for local government services for the Michigan Department of Treasury; founder of SETTLEmate® Inc., an alternative dispute resolution services company: “I joined American Mensa to put to rest the myth that, in general, African American males were intellectually challenged.” more
Dr. Roland A. Owens, assistant director of the National Institutes of Health Office of Intramural Research and chief of the molecular biology section in the laboratory of molecular and cellular biology in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease at NIH: “I joined Mensa more than 20 years ago to have a social life separate from work that would include people as intelligent as those with whom I work.”more
Anthony Spearman-Leach, chief communications officer for the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History: “American Mensa makes being a thinker cool. In a society in which pop culture dominates and trends are the norm, American Mensa embraces the legacy of intelligence, ingenuity, and innovation passed from those like George Washington Carver to Dr. Ben Carson.”more
Sylvia Reed Curran, Charge d’ Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan: “I belong to Mensa because the ‘top 2%’ includes all ethnic groups.” more
Dr. Curtis Odom, chief talent officer for Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts: “My reason for being a member of Mensa is because, as a highly intellectual person, I am personally validated by belonging to the one organization known for admitting those of the highest intellect.”more
Ada Brown, the youngest judge in Dallas County, Texas; First minority and woman to preside over Dallas County Criminal District Court #1: “No other club has such a diverse group of members. Mensans do anything and everything, and I am proud to be one.”more
Kato Cooks, president and CEO of SysTech, Pi Sciences, Peter Mack Media, and Raymond Cooks Books: "Intelligence, integrity, independence, and industry, set in a bath of altruism, allow me to be the humble equal of all. Mensa membership confirms the first of these; my life’s outcomes confirm the whole.”more
Kenneth Lamar Rucker, highly decorated, commissioned Naval Officer, Reserves and criminal investigator with the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office in Atlanta: “I joined Mensa because it fits neatly with my life’s aims. I wanted to be a part of a group that could bring solutions to political and social problems that affect humanity.”more

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