Synapsia

Brain Trust Brain of the Year Award and Avicenna Medal - London 2015

On Sunday the 31st of May, the Brain Trust annual gathering took place at the Phyllis Court Club on the banks of the River at Henley on Thames.  Synapsia magazine and the Brain Trust had already celebrated their Silver Jubilee in private rooms at the RAC Pall Mall London on the 14th of April. Now the time had come for the assembled invitees to honour the most notable achievements of the past year in the fields of intellectual endeavour.

The Brain of the Year Award goes back to 1991, when world chess champion Garry Kasparov was named the inaugural recipient at a ceremony in the Jules Verne restaurant of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Since then, illustrious Laureates have included Prof Stephen Hawking; Gene Rodenberry, creator of Star Trek; Edward de Bono , the apostle of IQ and Creativity; former Director of The Royal Institution, Baroness Susan Greenfield; Eight times world Memory Champion Dominic O Brien; Michael Gelb, global best selling author of How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinc ; record breaking Olympian Gold Medallist and exponent of extreme mental toughness, Sir Steve Redgrave; Professor Michael Crawford; His Royal Highness Prince Mohsin Ali Khan of Hyderabad and visionary artist from Australia, Lorraine K Gill.

Of that eminent roll call of the Titans of planetary intelligence, no fewer than four honoured us with their presence on May 31st. We were also extremely honoured by a special visit from Dr Suhair Al-Qurashi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Dar Al-Hekma, House of Wisdom, University, Jeddah, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

First to be presented was this year's Avicenna Medal, named to demonstrate our respect for the celebrated Islamic Philosopher, medical practitioner and polymath, Ibn Sina.

The winner, nominated by the previous incumbent, Dr Manahel Thabet, was the world's leading expert on Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition, Professor Michael Crawford from Imperial College, London.

The prestigious medal was presented by the distinguished psychiatrist, medical doctor and peace campaigner, Prof Dr Ahmed Ali Khan, co founder of The Avicenna Society and President of The Brain Trust for India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

A special award to the Brain Trust Founder in our Silver Jubilee Year, came to Professor Tony Buzan. This was in the form of a bust of Aristotle, the outstanding philosopher of Classical Greece, named by Dante as "Il Maestro di collor che sanno" the Master of the Men Who Know! Tony has often been compared to his great forerunner, as the modern Aristotle. This token of appreciation was, therefore, entirely appropriate.

Then, the culmination of the day, forward and defended to the hilt. The Brain of the year award for 2015, proposed by Mayor Frances Stainton , seconded by Prince Mohsin Ali Khan and , after strenuous competition, discussion and debate, endorsed with enthusiasm by the Brain Trust Committee, was the brilliant young Arabic scientist and , as noted above, winner of the 2014 Avicenna Medal, Dr Manahel Thabet. In her acceptance speech Dr Thabet modestly proclaimed herself to be a "dwarf planet" between the cosmic Giants of previous winners specially Prof. Michael Crawford and Professor Tony Buzan himself. The Brain of the Year award recognises the most outstanding contribution to the ideals of Global Mental Literacy. As Dr Manahel extends her work in the fields of the nature and nurture of Giftedness and Talent, High IQ, consciousness and her passion as researcher in Quantum investigation, it is clear that the ranks of Hawking, Kasparov, de Bono, Redgrave and Greenfield, will have gained a full planetary equivalent presence and co-equal mental force!