Alex Mullen (born 3 March 1992) is an American memory competitor, three-time world memory champion, and physician.Jordyn Taylor
"The Person With the World's Best Memory Is a Millennial From the US"
in ''

Mic (media company) Mic is an American internet and media company based in New York City that caters to millennials. Originally known as PolicyMic, it rose to prominence after its on-the-ground coverage of the Tunisian Revolution in 2011. In April 2014, the co ...

'', March 2016. The first American to win the world title, he won for three consecutive years the 2015, 2016, and 2017 World Memory Championships and held the IAM world No. 1 ranking from 2016-2019. He was also the 2022 and 2023 Memory League World Champion. Along with his wife, he runs ''Mullen Memory'' - a nonprofit which "provides free resources exploring memory palaces as learning tools."

Personal life

Mullen was born in

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

.Callie Bryant
"World Memory Champion, Oxford Native Alex Mullen Teaches Memorization"
in HottyToddy.com, 2 February 2016. He grew up in

Oxford, Mississippi Oxford is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, 14th most populous city in Mississippi, United States, and the county seat of Lafayette County, Mississippi, Lafayette County, southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis. A college town, Oxford ...

and attended Oxford High School, where he competed on the varsity swimming and tennis teams.Gary Pettus
Memory Serves Alex Mullen, New World Mental Athlete Champion"
in University of Mississippi News, 28 January 2016. In his senior year, Mullen was a National Merit Finalist and fourth award winner at the

Intel International Science and Engineering Fair The Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) is an annual science fair in the United States. It is owned and administered by the Society for Science, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. Each May, more ...

for a team project with his future wife, Cathy Chen."Oxford High School National Merit Finalists"
2010."Intel ISEF 2010 Grand Awards Ceremony"
14 May 2010. He attended

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

and studied biomedical engineering and applied mathematics."2014 JHU Engineering Convocation Awards Ceremony"
, 5 May 2014. He received his M.D. from the

University of Mississippi School of Medicine The University of Mississippi School of Medicine (UMSOM) is the medical school of the University of Mississippi in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The UMSOM was created in 1903 on the Oxford campus. In 1955, it was moved from the Oxford campus ...

in 2019. Both he and his wife received the Jim and Donna Barksdale Scholarship to cover the full cost of attendance of medical school. In 2020, he began a diagnostic radiology residency at the

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a public research university in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1969 and part of the University of Alabama System, UAB has grown to be the state's largest employer, with more than ...

.Rosemary Hutzler Raun
"The Mnemonist"
in Johns Hopkins Magazine, 9 October 2020.

Notable competitions

2015

*''

World Memory Championships The World Memory Championships is an organized competition of memory sports in which competitors memorize as much information as possible within a given period of time. The championship has taken place annually since 1991, with the exception of ...

'' (16-18 Dec., Chengdu, China): 1st place overall. Mullen became the tenth individual, and the first American, to win the world championship since its inception in 1991. He also received the title of international grandmaster of memory, the highest title bestowed by the World Memory Sports Council, at this event.

2016

*'' USA Memory Championship'' (9 May, Hershey, PA): 1st place overall. Mullen became the ninth individual to win the American national championship since its inception in 1998. *''US Open'' (2–3 July, Los Angeles, CA): 1st place overall. With 8,794 total points, Mullen achieved the then-highest total score in memory sports history (taking into account adjustments in scoring standards), giving him the world No. 1 ranking. *''Memoriad'' (8-10 Nov., Las Vegas, NV): gold: speed cards, hour numbers, silver: names and faces, spoken numbers. *''European Open'' (3-4 Dec., London, UK): 1st place overall. With 9,143 total points, Mullen broke his earlier mark for the then-highest total score. *''

'' (15-17 Dec., Singapore): 1st place overall.

2017

*''

( IAM)'' (1-3 Dec., Jakarta, Indonesia): 1st place overall. Most world records broken at the event, 4. With 9,061 total points (adjusted), Mullen broke his earlier record for the then-highest total score.

2021

*''Pan American Open ( Memory League)'' (15-16 May): 1st place overall. Mullen competed alongside 15 other online qualifiers using the Memory League format, which consists of digital, head-to-head matches composed of shorter disciplines. In the final, Mullen defeated Ryo Kobayashi of Japan.

2022

*'' Memory League World Championship'' (16-31 Jan.): 1st place overall. Mullen competed alongside 15 other online qualifiers in the fourth rendition of the Memory League World Championship, first held in 2014 under the name Extreme Memory Tournament. In the final, Mullen defeated 2019 IAM World Memory Champion Andrea Muzii of Italy.

2023

*'' Memory League World Championship'' (8-29 Jan.): 1st place overall. Mullen again defeated Andrea Muzii in the final.

Records

Mullen has held world records in 12 different

memory sport Memory sport, sometimes referred to as competitive memory or the mind sport of memory, refers to competitions in which participants attempt to memorize then recall different forms of information, under certain guidelines. The sport has been formal ...

disciplines, with the majority-minority of them involving the memorization of numbers or playing cards. He is the first person to memorize the order of a deck of playing cards in under 20 seconds at an official competition. He is also the first to memorize more than 3,000 decimal digits in one hour.

Media appearances

Mullen was a two-time contestant on the final season of the Chinese television program The Brain in 2017, defeating his opponent Wang Feng, the 2010 and 2011 World Memory Champion, by accurately recalling the airline routes, departure and arrival locations, and times of 50 flights. He was also a contestant on

Superhuman The term superhuman refers to humans, humanoids or other beings with abilities and other qualities that exceed those naturally found in humans. These qualities may be acquired through natural ability, self-actualization or technological aids. ...

, the American version of The Brain, winning his episode by memorizing a deck of cards flashed onscreen at two cards per second.Andy Belt
"Magnificent memory means money for Oxford native Alex Mullen"
in OxfordEagle.com, 29 June 2017. Mullen has been featured in

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

,Ian Frisch
"Lessons from America's First Memory World Champion"
in NewYorker.com, 18 May 2016.

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

,Helen Thomson
"The man who thinks like Sherlock Holmes"
in BBC.com, 12 April 2016.

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

,Michael Nedelman
"Hack your brain to remember almost anything"
in CNN.com, 9 March 2017.

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

,Devin Powell
"This man memorized a shuffled deck of cards in 18.65 seconds. Here’s how."
in WashingtonPost.com, 16 May 2016.

Lifehacker ''Lifehacker'' is a weblog about life hacks and software that launched on 31 January 2005. The site was originally launched by Gawker Media and is owned by Ziff Davis. The blog posts cover a wide range of topics including Microsoft Windows, M ...

,Melanie Pinola
"Learn How to Memorize Information With This Video From a World Memory Champion"
in Lifehacker.com, 29 March 2016. Vital Signs with Dr.

Sanjay Gupta Sanjay Gupta (born October 23, 1969) is an American neurosurgeon, medical reporter, and writer. He serves as associate chief of the neurosurgery service at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, associate professor of neurosurgery at ...

,Sanjay Gupta
"How to memorize a deck of cards under 17 seconds"
in CNN.com, 22 June 2017.

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

,A. Pawlowski
"How to remember faces, names and more: Tips from the world memory champion"
in Today.com, 16 June 2016. Mic,

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

,Asha Leo
"LIVE: Meet World Memory Champion 2015 - Alex Mullen"
in Facebook.com, 17 October 2016.

Men's Health ''Men's Health'' (''MH''), published by Hearst Communications, Hearst, is the world's largest men's magazine brand, with 35 editions in 59 countries; it is the bestselling men's magazine on American newsstands. Started as a men's health magazin ...

,Tyler Daswick
"How to Build a Better Memory"
in MensHealth.com, 7 August 2017. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'',Daniel Lavelle
"How to avoid losing your memory in the digital age"
in TheGuardian.com, 13 November 2018. and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'',Bryan Clark
"Train Your Brain Like a Memory Champion"
in NYTimes.com, 9 January 2019. among others.

References

External links

Mullen Memory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mullen, Alex 1992 births Living people People from Jackson, Mississippi People from Oxford, Mississippi People from Princeton, New Jersey Johns Hopkins University alumni