The Mensa Foundation presented Dr. Miraca Gross of Sydney, Australia, with the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award for her research in the area of human intelligence. The award was presented at the University of New South Wales by Sam Simmonds, a representative of Mensa Australia. Dr. Gross received a $1,000 honorarium and a crystal award.
Dr. Gross is a professor of gfted education at the University of New South Wales and director of the Gifted Education Research Resource and Information Centre. In 2008, she was awarded the Order of Australia by Her Majesty the Queen for her services to education for the gifted. She has won several international awards, including the American National Association for Gifted Children's Hollingworth Award for excellence in research on giftedness and education in 1987, the Mensa Foundation's Award for Excellence in 1988 and 1990, and the NAGC's Early Scholar Award in 1995; she was again honored by the NAGC with their Distinguished Scholar Award in 2005.
Dr. Gross served for six years as president of the Gifted and Talented Children’s Association of South Australia and served on the Executive of the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children from 1995-1999. Her book, Exceptionally Gifted Children, has received international acclaim, and a second edition was published in 2004. These books are two of many publications based on her 25-year longitudinal study of 60 young Australians with an IQ above 160.
“We are proud to award Dr. Gross with the Lifetime Achievement Award for her tireless dedication to the study and research of giftedness,” said Greg Timmers, President of the Mensa Foundation. “Over the span of 25 years, Miraca has truly proven a deep commitment to the furthering of intelligence research. It is rare to find someone with that level of passion for giftedness.”
The Lifetime Achievement Award was created in 1999 to honor an individual’s lifetime of contributions to the field of intelligence, giftedness or creativity. To win this award, an individual must have published an exceptional body of work in research, theory or other scholarly areas over a period of not less than 15 years. Winners may be educators and/or practitioners in the fields of giftedness, brain function, human intelligence, creativity or intelligence testing.