Mary Singleton Sigourney was born on November 30, 1927, in St. Louis, Missouri, and lived for many years in Northern California. She was a resident of Carmel Valley, California, at the time of her death from cancer on October 19, 1988. Mrs. Sigourney had a passionate interest in psychoanalysis and wished to encourage activity in the field. Her interests included the contribution of psychoanalysis to other fields and disciplines, such as, psychiatry, psychology, child care, anthropology, sociology, law, criminology, and the arts and humanities. During her lifetime, she funded several academic research programs concerned with psychoanalysis and allied fields such as anthropology and sociology. She was a licensed psychotherapist and held a masters degree in marital, family, and child counseling while getting some analytic training and personal analysis. She was also the publisher of a Bay Area periodical, The Advocate, concerned with environmental, social, and community issues. Mary Sigourney understood the significant contributions of, and the lasting benefits from, analysis and its applicability to human affairs. She was concerned that establishment psychoanalysts were preserving a closed system of training and practice with insufficient attention to applied psychoanalysis and research. She wished to encourage new activity in the field by recognizing outstanding contributions. All Content Copyright © 2003 Mary S. Sigourney Award Trust. All Rights Reserved.