From: phil@miracle.com (Phil Hill)
Organization: Boston Mensa
Reply-To: rom-faq@miracle.com
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Followup-To: rec.org.mensa
Date: Sat, 02 Jan 93 07:18:45 EST
Expires: Wed, 03 Feb 93 07:18:45 EST
Keywords: MENSA, MIND, IQ, INTELLIGENCE, GENIUS, SOCIETY, ORGANIZATION,
          CLUB, SOCIAL, SCHOLARSHIP, GIFTED
Subject: Mensa - FAQ: What famous people are members of Mensa? [Monthly]
Summary: This posting  contains the  answers to many Frequently Asked
         Questions (FAQs)  about Mensa.  It should be  read by anyone
         who wishes to post to the rec.org.mensa newsgroup, or anyone
         that desires information about the Mensa society.

Archive-name: mensa-famous
Version: 1.2

This is the answers to  some of the frequently asked  questions (FAQ) in 
rec.org.mensa. Before  posting a  message asking  a question,  read this
article.  Chances are the  answer is in here,  or one of the other Mensa
FAQ articles.

This article includes answers to:

12) What famous people are in Mensa?

Other articles include the answers to:

    Question                                 Archive-Name        Posted
    --------                                 ------------        ------
 1) What is Mensa?                           mensa-faq           Weekly
 2) Who is Mensa For?                             "                 "
 3) Why Should I Join Mensa?                      "                 "
 4) What are Members of Mensa Like?               "                 "
 5) How do I Re-Join Mensa?                       "                 "
 6) What are Mensa's Dues?                        "                 "
 7) What does "Mensa" mean?                       "                 "
 8) What are the Qualifications for Mensa?   mensa-join          Weekly
 9) How do I apply for Membership in Mensa?       "                 "
10) Where do I get more Information?              "                 "
11) What other High-IQ Societies are there?  mensa-high-iq       Bi-Weekly
13) What is the Mensa test like?             mensa-test          Monthly

You may retreive  copies of this article  and the other answers to Mensa
FAQs  by  anonymous FTP  from  pit-manager.mit.edu.  Those  without  FTP
access should send e-mail to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with:
               "send usenet/news.answers/finding-sources"
in the body to find out how to do FTP by e-mail.

Comments?  Suggestions?  Corrections?  Send e-mail to rom-faq@miracle.com

========================================================================

SOME PROMINENT MENSA MEMBER PROFILES

As this list suggests,  Mensa  is  a  remarkably  diverse  organization.
While  Some  Mensans  noted  here  are  well  known,  many  others  lead
interesting lives out of the public eye.

DONALD PETERSEN:  Former chairman  of  Ford  Motor  Company.   Has  B.S.
degree  in  mechanical  engineering and an MBA from Stanford University.
He graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Tau Beta Pi (honorary engineering  society)
and Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society (natural sciences).  During his
career at Ford, he was involved in the development of two of Ford's most
successful  cars--the  Mustang and the Maverick--as well as the Mark III
and the Fairlane.  He is also a high-performance driver, having  trained
at  the  school  run by retired racing champion Bob Bondurant.  Petersen
was born  on  a  farm  in  the  Midwest  and  raised  during  the  Great
Depression.   Influenced  by  the  hardship and economic instability his
family endured, he used his intelligence to pursue a secure life in  the
corporate environment.

ALAN RACHINS:  Plays Douglas Brachman in TV hit "L.A.  Law." He left the
Wharton  School  of  Finance  against  his  father's wishes to pursue an
acting career.  During the '60s he was in the cast of "Oh  Calcutta,"  a
highly controversial play where cast members appeared nude on stage.

BOB SPECTA:  Professional domino toppler.  As a high school  senior,  he
originated  the "domino toppling" category in the Guinness Book of World
Records.  He travels internationally doing domino shows  and  races  and
has appeared on network TV programs and in commercials.  An accomplished
athlete, Specta is a veteran of 12 triathlons.

ADRIAN CRONAUER:  Radio personality  and  subject  for  the  move  "Good
Morning  Vietnam."  Started  his  radio  career at 12 in his hometown of
Pittsburgh, PA, where he hosted a children's amateur hour.  Worked as  a
DJ  at  various radio stations and in Saigon during the Vietnam War.  He
is also a lawyer.  Cronauer was originally attracted to Mensa because of
the work they do for gifted children.

GLORIA LA ROCHE:  Captain and instructor for United  Airlines.   Product
of  a  dysfunctional  home,  she  used  intelligence and perseverance to
achieve her childhood dream of  becoming  a  pilot.   She  says  it  was
extremely  difficult  for  a  woman  like herself to break into the male
dominated world of commercial aviation.

MARILYN VOS SAVANT:  Listed in the Guinness Hall of Fame for having  the
world's highest recorded I.Q.  (228).  She is the wife of Robert Jarvik,
inventor of the  Jarvik  7  artificial  heart.   She  also  writes  "Ask
Marilyn," a weekly column that appears nationally in "Parade" magazine.

GEENA DAVIS:  Actress.  Currently co-starring with Susan Sarandon in the
movie  hit  "Thelma  & Louise." Received an Academy Award nomination for
her role in "The Accidental Tourist."

HENRY  MILLIGAN:   A  boxer  and  a  scholar,  1983   National   Amateur
Heavyweight champion who fought and won against Olympic heavyweight gold
medalist Henry Tillman.  He once fought Mike Tyson in a televised fight.
Milligan  recently  worked his way through NYU Business School acting in
commercials (e.g., for "Sports Illustrated" sneaker phone promotion).

JOHN N. MOORE:  University of Virginia law professor who specializes  in
international  law.   The  Kuwaiti  Ambassador to the U.S.  hired him to
help the  emirate  recover  damages  inflicted  since  the  August  1990
invasion by Iraq.

MELL LAZARUS:  Draws syndicated newspaper comic strips "Momma" and "Miss
Peach."  President of national Cartoonist Society, he has also published
two novels and is now writing his third.

JUDGE ELLEN MORPHONIOS:  Nicknamed "Maximum Morphonios" for  her  strict
rulings  in  Florida.   Former  model  and beauty queen (Coconut Harvest
Maiden and Miss Southern Florida) and local radio personality, once said
she  "enjoyed  being  a  sex  symbol."  As  a  young  mother and a legal
secretary, she passed a Florida exam  that  allowed  her  to  enter  law
school without an undergraduate degree.

PATRICIA PRATTIS JENNINGS:  Pianist with the Pittsburgh  Symphony.   She
is the symphony's first black member and has performed internationally.

RICHARD BOLLES:  Author of the world's  top  selling  job-hunting  book,
"What  Color  is Your Parachute?" Revised annually, the book has been on
the New York Times Best Seller List for 228 weeks.  Bolles has  two  new
books  in progress--one on relationships, one on spirituality.  He is an
ordained Episcopal priest who graduated from Harvard University cum laud
with a physics degree.

VELMA JEREMIAH:  She is a retired attorney who graduated fourth  in  her
law  school class at age 47 and was one of the first women partners in a
major Oregon law firm.  She is a grandmother, a working  standup  comic,
and currently chairwoman of Mensa International.

JEAN AUEL:  Best-selling author of "Clan of the Cave Bear",  "Valley  of
Horses",  "The  Mammoth  Hunters",  and  "Plains  of Passage".  A former
technical writer, she turned her attention  to  fiction,  buttressed  by
much  historical  and anthropological research, touring areas she was to
write about and teaching herself to make stone-age tools.