Margot Seitelman (23 February 1928 – 5 November 1989) was the first

executive director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...

American Mensa Mensa is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organisation open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test. Mensa formally compr ...

, from 1961 (shortly after American Mensa's formation) until her death in 1989. The offices of the organization were originally in her apartment.

Biography

Early life

Seitelman was born in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

, Germany to a Jewish family and immigrated to America via Luxembourg, where she settled in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Career

The American branch of Mensa International started forming in 1959. Two years later, it was incorporated, and began outgrowing its all-volunteer status, and needed a paid employee to manage its affairs. The original Mensa organization in Britain had set a model of having a housewife manage the organization out of her home. Thus, when Seitelman answered Mensa's advertisement in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', she appeared to be an excellent match. She ran Mensa out of her Brooklyn apartment. Her title is variously given as Director, Executive Secretary, and Executive Director. Additionally, until it separated from U.S. Mensa in 1967, Margot also administered Canadian Mensa memberships. Keiron Clark Later, when the organization outgrew her ability to manage it part-time out of her home, her duties were expanded to full-time stewardship, and an office suite was rented – though still in the same building in which she lived. In her 28 years as an employee, she became affectionately known as the mother of American Mensa, outlasting all its elected officials.

Marriage and children

Seitelman married and had three sons. Her marriage lasted 40 years.

Legacy

Seitelman died of cancer on 5 November 1989, at age 61, in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. At the time, she still held the Executive Director position for American Mensa. After her death, the organization moved its headquarters to

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...

, and greatly expanded the staff.

Awards

Though she led American Mensa for 28 years, she never became a member. After her death, she was awarded an honorary membership.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seitelman, Margot 1928 births 1989 deaths American women business executives Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Mensans 20th-century American businesswomen