Difference between revisions of "Ralph Rudolph"

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'''Ralph Rudolph''' was the [[chairman of American Mensa]] from 1989 to 1991.  He ran unsuccessfully for a second two-year term.  In both of the elections in which he was a candidate for the position, he made a point of running as a petition candidate rather than submitting his name to the [[Nominating Committee of American Mensa||Nominating Committee]], perhaps for the purpose of positioning himself as an "outsider" in opposition to the "establishment".  This stance seems to have been successful in his first election, but had worn off by the second, as many of his "dissident" supporters abandoned him once he was in office and began to be perceived as having become part of the establishment himself.  A similar "outsiders vs. establishment" mentality led to the election of [[Dick Amyx]] in 1993.
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'''Ralph Rudolph''' was the [[chairman of American Mensa]] from 1989 to 1991.  He ran unsuccessfully for a second two-year term.  In both of the elections in which he was a candidate for the position, he made a point of running as a petition candidate rather than submitting his name to the [[Nominating Committee of American Mensa|Nominating Committee]], perhaps for the purpose of positioning himself as an "outsider" in opposition to the "establishment".  This stance seems to have been successful in his first election, but had worn off by the second, as many of his "dissident" supporters abandoned him once he was in office and began to be perceived as having become part of the establishment himself.  A similar "outsiders vs. establishment" mentality led to the election of [[Dick Amyx]] in 1993.
  
 
It was perhaps not fair to characterize Rudolph as having changed in views after he gained power, since his style has always been to put forward lots of "trial balloon" ideas, of all sorts, which can be interpreted selectively to make him seem to be on whichever side of a political fence you may wish to place him.  Since some of his ideas were in step with the agenda of the "Mensa establishment" of the time and others against it, he could be categorized as being in either of the two "political camps", but was actually in neither.  Tossing out lots of ideas can sometimes help one's political prospects by exciting prospective voters seeking a change, but it can also harm them because if you raise enough issues and ideas you'll find something to offend everybody.  Rudolph experienced both sides of this in his brief career in national [[Mensa politics]].
 
It was perhaps not fair to characterize Rudolph as having changed in views after he gained power, since his style has always been to put forward lots of "trial balloon" ideas, of all sorts, which can be interpreted selectively to make him seem to be on whichever side of a political fence you may wish to place him.  Since some of his ideas were in step with the agenda of the "Mensa establishment" of the time and others against it, he could be categorized as being in either of the two "political camps", but was actually in neither.  Tossing out lots of ideas can sometimes help one's political prospects by exciting prospective voters seeking a change, but it can also harm them because if you raise enough issues and ideas you'll find something to offend everybody.  Rudolph experienced both sides of this in his brief career in national [[Mensa politics]].

Revision as of 05:57, 13 September 2005

Ralph Rudolph was the chairman of American Mensa from 1989 to 1991. He ran unsuccessfully for a second two-year term. In both of the elections in which he was a candidate for the position, he made a point of running as a petition candidate rather than submitting his name to the Nominating Committee, perhaps for the purpose of positioning himself as an "outsider" in opposition to the "establishment". This stance seems to have been successful in his first election, but had worn off by the second, as many of his "dissident" supporters abandoned him once he was in office and began to be perceived as having become part of the establishment himself. A similar "outsiders vs. establishment" mentality led to the election of Dick Amyx in 1993.

It was perhaps not fair to characterize Rudolph as having changed in views after he gained power, since his style has always been to put forward lots of "trial balloon" ideas, of all sorts, which can be interpreted selectively to make him seem to be on whichever side of a political fence you may wish to place him. Since some of his ideas were in step with the agenda of the "Mensa establishment" of the time and others against it, he could be categorized as being in either of the two "political camps", but was actually in neither. Tossing out lots of ideas can sometimes help one's political prospects by exciting prospective voters seeking a change, but it can also harm them because if you raise enough issues and ideas you'll find something to offend everybody. Rudolph experienced both sides of this in his brief career in national Mensa politics.

The series of political battles regarding Judy Dosse, a Regional Vice Chairman at the time, started during Rudolph's term in office, ultimately leading to the National Hearings Committee hearing charges against her for which Rudolph was one of the complainants. This created further rifts between Rudolph and the more anti-establishment Mensans, many of whom sided with Dosse.

In an article in Interloc #250 (Dec. 1992), Rudolph criticized the "Throw the Rascals Out" mentality (even though he had earlier gained election due in part to this trend), saying that, although "the AMC has made some expensive mistakes", electing entirely new and inexperienced people would probably cause worse results, as "electing Joe Q. LocSec, working as perhaps a teacher or programmer... is going to make him an instant expert on social dynamics or on efficiently running a corporation? With NO TRAINING? Bloody unlikely, my friend." He also raised the point that the demand on AMC members' time from answering member questions would eventually lead the new member to cut back on such communication in order to have a life, which would cause the members to criticize him for becoming one of the entrenched politicians who refuses to listen to the membership. This article can be interpreted as somewhat pro-establishment, though it had some criticism of the current Mensa politicians.

Rudolph has also come up with new ideas in other subjects, including his job in the steel industry. One of these ideas won him the Mensa Education and Research Foundation's Copper Black Award for Creative Achievement in 2000 for inventing a method of detecting water on steel during the manufacturing process.[1]

Elissa Rudolph, former RVC for region 10 and chairman of the 2006 World Gathering, is a former wife of Ralph.


Preceded by:
Amy Shaughnessy
Chairman of American Mensa
1989-1991
Succeeded by:
Dave Felt