Forrest Tuff joined American Mensa after completing an examination to determine his eligibility and rank. He scored in the top 2% which is an IQ of 132 or more in the Stanford-Binet test, or 148 or more in the Cattell equivalent.

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Mensa has members of all ages in almost 100 countries around the world. The society provides its members with diverse and exciting opportunities for social, cultural, and intellectual interaction. Mensa has three stated purposes:

• to identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity;

• to encourage research into the nature, characteristics, and uses of intelligence; 

• to provide a stimulating intellectual and social environment for its members.

 

When did Mensa begin, who started it, and why?

Mensa was founded in England in 1946 by a barrister named Roland Berrill, and Dr. Lance Ware, a scientist and lawyer. Mensa's original aims were, as they are today, to create a society that is non-political and free from all racial or religious distinctions. “Mensa” means “table” in Latin, and the organization was so named because Mensa is a round-table society where ethnicity, color, creed, national origin, age, politics, educational and social background are all completely irrelevant. In fact, the only relevant qualification for membership is scoring within the upper 2% of the general population on an approved intelligence test. Mensa takes no stand on politics, religion or social issues, and it has members from so many different countries and cultures, each with differing points of view; so, for Mensa to espouse a particular point of view would go against its role as a forum for ALL points of view.

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