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There are many adults who've applied their intellectual gifts and talents to a wide variety of endeavors, with amazing results.

Their example may serve as role models, debunking stereotypes and inspiring many gifted kids who have no local peer group.

This is not necessarily a list of famous gifted people. Some have achieved great fame and fortune, while others are less well known, even obscure.

Here are a few to start...

Technology...
In the technology arena there are well-known contemporaries, including:
- Steve Jobs (Apple),
- Mark Zuckerburg (Facebook),
- Bill Gates (Microsoft),
- Stephen Hawking.

Mathematicians...
- Mathematician Jacob Barnett is a living example of an amazing 2e success story.
- How many are familiar with mathematician Alan Turing, and the role he played in ending WWII, depicted in the movie The Imitation Game (2014)?
- Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn, Mary Jackson... Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race

Authors...
- Elizabeth Zimmerman was a gifted individual who applied her efforts to knitting, and was also an author.
- Author Sir Terry Pratchett, who suffered the onset of Alzheimer's and died at age 66.

more Women...
- Singer Lady Gaga and First Lady Michelle Obama are known to have been in gifted programs as children.
- Marilyn Vos Savant, author and columnist, has been listed in the Guinness Book of Word Records for having the highest IQ test scores (albeit with some controversy as to how the scores were derived).
- Candace Owens was 10 years old and in 5th grade, when she was placed in advanced classes based on high standardized test scores. She went on to college, paid off student loans, and now encourages others that it is possible to rise above poverty in the US and achieve success.
- Phiona Mutesi, chess player.

Lists...
- There are books which give insight into successful entrepreneurs and influential visionaries.
- This article offers Mensa's list of 10 smartest celebrities.
- "Listovative" published this list of Top 12 People with Highest IQ in the World.
Truman Capote, author, describes his experience (as quoted in his obit):
'I was so different from everyone...'
The mathematical calculation prowess and extreme memorization ability of author Daniel Tammet (1979-) are documented in this video, found on YouTube: The Boy With The Incredible Brain (Superhuman Documentary) - Real Stories, Published on Aug 22, 2015.

Topics mentioned in this documentary include:
- one of 9 children
- childhood seizures, epilepsy diagnosis
- autism
- heightened "powers of perception"
- gifted savants
- synesthesia
- "moving through a synesthetic landscape"
- photographic memory
- students calculating with an abacus
- learning a new language in one week

Other individuals mentioned in this documentary include:
- Orlando Serrell (1968-)
- Dane Bottino, savant artist
- Kim Peek (1951-2009), inspiration for Dustin Hoffman's character Raymond Babbitt in the movie "Rain Man" (1988)
- Dr. Darold Treffert, author of:
- - - Extraordinary People: Understanding Savant Syndrome,
- - - Islands of Genius: The Bountiful Mind of the Autistic, Acquired, and Sudden Savant.
Stephen R. Stafford II was homeschooled prior to becoming known as the youngest student at Morehouse College, which he attended from 2008-2012.
It was once anticipated that he would graduate med school at age 22.

Now an adult, using the moniker "Speedkicks", Stephen Stafford has recently been applying his genius to the Tekken gaming world, with Panda Global.
Rashad Jennings, author, philanthropist, former NFL running back.

NYT Bestseller:
The [color:#993300]IF[/color] in L[color:#993300]IF[/color]E: How to Get Off Life's Sidelines and Become Your Best Self (2018)

Rashad is the now also author of a new book series for middle-school kids:
The Coin Slot Chronicles (2019)
Yikes!

Elizabeth Holmes, founder of Theranos (a name which is a portmanteaux combining therapy + diagnosis) is the subject of recent 20/20 and HBO documentaries (The Dropout, and The Inventor, respectively). On the one hand, it sounds a bit like an idea that almost revolutionized health care... on the other hand it sounds like a scam (the biggest clue may have been firing anyone who asked questions).
Adding a link to the thread on retired math professor and mentor, George Berzsenyi.
Ben Shapiro - the political commentator - apparently skipped 3rd and 9th grade and attended Harvard Law School. Now worth an estimated $8 million at 35 years old.
Adding a link to the thread A very intelligent and driven young role model, in the General Discussion forum.

The articles linked from that thread include these people:
- aerospace engineer and co-founder of a startup, Natalya Brikner (now Natalya Bailey),
- co-founder Louis Perna,
- coach and mentor Anna Rowley.
Bill Gates' TED talk on global preparedness for pandemics (2015) has recently resurfaced, due to COVID-19 (coronavirus):
The next outbreak? We're not ready
Originally Posted by TEDtalk
Let's look at the progression of Ebola over this year. About 10,000 people died, and nearly all were in the three West African countries. There's three reasons why it didn't spread more.

1) The first is that there was a lot of heroic work by the health workers.
They found the people and they prevented more infections.

2) The second is the nature of the virus.
Ebola does not spread through the air. And by the time you're contagious, most people are so sick that they're bedridden.

3) Third, it didn't get into many urban areas.
And that was just luck. If it had gotten into a lot more urban areas, the case numbers would have been much larger.

Next time, we might not be so lucky.
You can have a virus where people feel well enough while they're infectious that they get on a plane or they go to a market.
Unfortunately, that describes COVID-19:
a virus where people feel well enough while they're infectious that they get on a plane or they go to a market.

While scientific advances are made, hopefully going forward, families will focus on self-reliance and personal preparedness, including
- considering Red Cross emergency preparedness
- maintaining a well-stocked pantry of basic food and paper products
- following government-issued stay-at-home plans
- returning to the advice and guidelines common during the corporate layoffs, down-sizing, right-sizing, and out-sourcing as the US economy changed dramatically during the 1980's - 1990's: live frugally, budget, and accumulate a rainy day savings fund of 3-6 months of income/expenses. Having a financial cushion may be as important in future decades as it was for many families back then.

Stay healthy.
Be well.
Who invented email?
What else have they done?
Where are they now?

Hint:
This was a gifted student, living in New Jersey, who had finished all the math courses his high school had to offer. He was one of 40 students accepted into a programming course at NYU. He graduated in 1978. As a research fellow, studying baby sleep patterns, sleep apnea, and SIDS, he wrote algorithms and performed pattern analysis. He was only 14 when he designed, developed, and implemented a system to replace his employer's interoffice pneumatic mail tubes with electronic mail.

FASCINATING STORY!

Website:
- https://www.inventorofemail.com/

Book: The Boy Who Invented Email
- https://www.inventorofemail.com/the-boy-who-invented-email.asp
- https://vashiva.com/product/the-boy-who-invented-email-his-7-secrets-of-innovation/
- https://www.amazon.com/Boy-Invented-Email-Secrets-Innovation/dp/0997040211

Video:
- short interview clip
- Hear the author relate the experience, in his own words, as part of a longer talk on many topics. The invention of email is discussed beginning at 9 minutes, and continues to about 21 minutes... or 25 minutes... or 28 minutes.

Today he is known as Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai, Ph.D.
Deborah Rhode (1952-2021), was a Stanford Law Professor and legal ethicist.
The wikipedia page about her says she was "the nation's most frequently cited scholar in legal ethics."

Related post: law school debt. Hat tip to Team3.
Lonnie Johnson is the inventor of the Super Soaker and more, also a former NASA employee.

personal website - http://lonniejohnson.com/.

wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonnie_Johnson_(inventor)

History Channel, series: The Toys that Built America -
https://www.history.com/shows/the-toys-that-built-america

There are books, documentaries, and online sources of information about Lonnie Johnson.

Related post:
"Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions" (2016)
(Book Recommendations: age 6-8, in the Recommended Resources forum)
Dr. Joseph Dituri, "Dr. Deep Sea," is a professor and a researcher. He recently set a record for living under water 100 days, in a pressurized environment similar to what is used to treat Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

See his description of his underwater living environment, here:


More information available on his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@drdeepsea, and in this interview:
.

I found it interesting that he obtained his PhD in Biomedical Engineering after serving 28 years in the US Navy.
Hedy Lamarr (1914-2000) may be described as pluripotent; she was multi-lingual, an actress with a star on Hollywood Boulevard, and obtained a patent for technology currently used in cell phones.

... Lamarr was privately tutored from age 4; by the time she was 10, she was a proficient pianist and dancer and could speak four languages.
...
during World War II ... in collaboration with the avant-garde composer George Antheil, she invented an electronic device that minimized the jamming of radio signals. Though it was never used in wartime, this device is a component of present-day satellite and cellular phone technology.
Additional Sources:
Google Patents - https://patents.google.com/patent/US2292387A/en

Smithsonian - https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/team-hollywoods-secret-weapons-system-103619955/

National Women's History Museum - https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/hedy-lamarr

National Inventors Hall of Fame, with an online presence at the link - (https://www.invent.org/).
Hedy Lamarr link - https://www.invent.org/inductees/hedy-lamarr
Read the National Inventors Hall of Fame website for information on annual opportunities, including Camp Invention (already displaying upcoming camps for Summer 2024), and Collegiate Inventors Competition.

Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr

The TELEPHONE MUSEUM, whose website entertainingly provides a twist on the well-known saying, "Keep Calm and Carry On":
"Keep Calm and Take Stuff Apart."
Hedy Lamarr link - https://telephone-museum.org/telephone-history-276/
Adding a link to Dr. Willard Wigan MBE, gifted micro sculptor
Henry Kissinger (May 27, 1923 - Nov 29, 2023) was a prominent and controversial figure in the US news, in decades past.

Brainy Quote lists him as an American Statesman and has assembled this collection of his quotes: https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/henry-kissinger-quotes

Is Henry Kissinger a high IQ individual?
Jay S retired researcher, amateur philosopher Author has 9.6K answers and 42.8M answer views
Henry Kissinger was a 20-year old immigrant from Germany attending college in New York when he was drafted into the US Army in 1943. Aptitude testing in basic training revealed to the Army that they had a genius on their hands and he was sent to the Army Specialized Training Program. Essentially these soldiers were sent back to college to receive specialized training to take advantage of their high IQ. It offered training in such fields as engineering, foreign languages, military intelligence, and medicine.

There was controversy, though. Later in the war offended mothers were upset that their sons were being sent off to fight and die while others were sent to college. That and the manpower shortages in 1944–45 resulted in many of them being released for other duty. The same thing happened with Air Corps flight cadets. in 1945 there were far more pilots than were needed so the cadets still in training were sent off as infantry replacement privates instead of pilot officers.

So the Army sent Henry Kissinger into the ASTP to study engineering. But in 1945 he was shipped out as an infantry replacement to Germany. He served in the 84th Infantry Division as a military intelligence interpreter and later a CiC Special agent. He was a sergeant in charge of a team assigned to tracking down Gestapo officers and saboteurs for which he was awarded the Bronze Star.

Post-war, he became the summa cum laude graduate of Harvard, where he also earned his MA and PhD. He joined the faculty immediately thereafter.

Kissinger is a highly intelligent individual.
Answer requested by Evan J

Crowd-sourced wikipedia entry on Henry Kissinger's life - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kissinger
Another person of high intelligence has succumbed to Alzheimer's dementia in old age.

Sandra Day O'Connor was the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States.

She died today at age 93, about 5 years after diagnosis in 2018.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67593879
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