New Jersey Educator Honored With Mensa Foundation Distinguished Teacher Award

ARLINGTON, Texas - EntSun -- Marcia Blackstone Maull, a music teacher and performer and the Chair of the Theory Program for the Music Educators Association of New Jersey, is the 2019 winner of the Mensa Foundation's Distinguished Teacher Award.

Nominated by Mensa member Ingrid Bianca Byerly, Ms. Maull has taught students who became luminary musicians and educational influencers in Africa, Europe, Asia, and America. Ms. Byerly first encountered Ms. Maull as a 15-year-old at the Music, Art and Ballet School in South Africa. "She championed unique assets and tended individual challenges," Ms. Byerly said. "What stayed with me most, however, was not just the detail of small phrases or large works. It was what she shared about the art of mastery, the discipline and focus that results in the euphoria of realizing one's aptitudes."

More on EntSun News

• Walmart $WMT and COSTCO.COM $COST Distribution as SonicShieldX™ Platform Sets the Stage for Accelerated Growth in 2026: AXIL Brands (N Y S E: AXIL)
• AI-Driven Drug Development with Publication of New Bioinformatics Whitepaper for BullFrog AI: $BFRG Strengthens Its Position in AI Drug Development
• IQSTEL Enters 2026 from a Position of Strength Following Transformational Year Marked by N A S D A Q Uplisting, Record Revenue and First-Ever
• AI-Driven Trailer Launches for Dystopian Sci-Fi Thriller JoinWith.Me
• Are You Hiring The Right Heater Repair Company in Philly?

Before making her home in New Jersey, Ms. Maull worked in New York City, where she was a vocal accompanist and rehearsal pianist for the Opera Orchestra of New York, the Mostly Mozart Festival, and the New York Choral Society. She accompanied for conductors Eugene Ormandy, Robert Shaw and others, as well as opera singers Leontyne Price, Montserrat Caballe, and Marilyn Horne.

In South Africa, besides teaching, Ms. Maull recorded as soloist and chamber music artist for the South African Broadcasting Corporation and served as keyboardist for the National Symphony Orchestra.

Given annually, the Mensa Foundation's Distinguished Teacher Award recognizes a teacher, professor or instructor at any educational level who has had an especially positive influence on the education or life of a Mensan. In Ms. Byerly's nominating essay, she referenced how Ms. Maull's "ancestry of influence" is still connecting lives.

More on EntSun News

• Appliance EMT Expands Professional Appliance Repair Services to Hartford, Connecticut
• Java Holdings LLC Acquires +Peptide, Expanding Portfolio Across Coffee, Science, and Functional Nutrition
• Elklook Launches 2026 New Year Promotion
• Godspell Comes To The Elks Lodge In Culver City, California
• OneSolution® Expands to Orlando with New Altamonte Springs Implant Center

"My 15th birthday may be a distant memory," Ms. Byerly wrote, "but between 15 and 60 lie 45 years of inspiration that have affected my every day and every student that I teach now, too."

# # #

For more than 40 years, the Mensa Education and Research Foundation has advocated for intelligence by providing scholarships, promoting research, championing gifted youth, and empowering educators. Governed by a volunteer Board of Trustees, the Mensa Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization funded by American Mensa, Mensa members, and other charitable donations. To learn more about the Foundation, visit mensafoundation.org.