Dr. Abbie F. Salny

Dr. Abbie F. Salny

Wayne - Beloved Mensa booster and innovator Dr. Abbie F. Salny passed away Sunday, Aug. 22, at her home in Wayne, N.J. She was 96. Affectionately known by most as Dr. Abbie, she was a former American Mensa supervisory psychologist, past Mensa International Honorary president, and namesake of the Abbie Award for Proctor of the Year. Dr. Abbie was the only two-time winner of American Mensa's top honor, the Margot Award.

A Life Member of American Mensa, Dr. Abbie contributed to the organization in myriad capacities since joining in 1964. She served as both American Mensa's and Mensa International's supervisory psychologist from 1978 to 2002. She was Mensa International's Honorary Vice President from 2003 to 2006 and named Honorary President in 2006.

A member of Northern New Jersey Mensa, Dr. Abbie was particularly impactful during her 26 years on the board of the Mensa Education & Research Foundation. She was instrumental in the creation of the Foundation's scholarship program, its Awards for Excellence in Research, and the Distinguished Teacher Award. She served as Director of Science and Education from 1983 to 1987.

The author or co-author of several best-selling quiz and puzzle books, Dr. Abbie used her talents to benefit Mensa. She launched the Mensa Genius Quiz Book series in 1981 and contributed to subsequent versions. She authored Mensa Page-A-Day calendars from 1995 to 2001. (If you've ever worked the Mensa quiz on an American Airlines flight, you can thank Dr. Abbie.) She also developed the International Culture Fair test used by Mensa International for recruiting.

Travel and fine dining were a large part of her life. She later became a certified sommelier and a gourmet cook, specializing in French cuisine. She went to Paris as a young woman and later kept an apartment there for several years.

She graduated from New York University in 1949 then earned her master's and doctorate in psychology from Montclair State and Rutgers University, respectively. She later was a professor at Montclair State University from 1966 to 1979 before maintaining a private practice from 1979 until 1996. Widow of Seymour Shapiro, Dr. Abbie married Jerome Salny on July 12, 1973, in West Orange, N.J. Jerome died in 2005. She met both husbands in Mensa.

Dr. Abbie was preceded in death by her brother, Robert Feinstein. She is survived by a nephew, Noah Feinstein, his wife Ariel, and their children Hailey, Jacob, and Lucas; by nephew and niece David Shapiro and Miriam Viktora; and by Charles and Pat Wolfrum and their children, Ryan and Rachel. Funeral services will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Salny Scholarship through the Mensa Foundation.