“Mensa is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world.” – Wikipedia

Mensa was born in 1946 when two British barristers, Roland Berrill and Lance Ware, met by chance on a train from Cambridge to London and made the decision to form a society for people with high IQs. Their original vision was of an organization of intellectual thinkers who might be called upon to solve some of the chronic problems of the post-war years.

The original vision proved to be a bit too idealistic. But the idea of an organization of people with high IQ’s captured the interest of the public, and the organization grew nevertheless.

The name Mensa (meaning table in Latin) was chosen to create an image of all members sitting around a table as equals. Berrill remained leader of Mensa until 1952 when Victor Serebriakoff became International Chairperson. A period of international growth then followed. Other Chairpersons and Honorary Chairs included legendary science-fiction writer Sir Isaac Asimov, and famous inventor Sir Clive Sinclair.

Today, Mensa hosts over a hundred thousand members in more than 80 countries around the world. These include American Mensa, with over 57,000 members, British Mensa, with over 21,000, and Mensa Germany, with over 11,000 members. Mensa thrives on being an international community, and members benefit from gaining new friends from all over the world.

Mensa’s only requirement for membership is to score at or above the 98th percentile of a standardized intelligence test. Mensa itself regularly holds test sessions across the globe.

The official national group in the Philippines is Mensa Philippines, duly registered as a non-profit, non-stock organization under the name Pilipinas Mensa Society Inc. by the Securities and Exchange Commission.