Mary Seeman, originally from Poland, grew up in Montreal, Canada, and graduated from McGill Medical School. She trained in psychiatry in New York City and in Cambridge, U.K. where she developed an interest in serious mental illnesses. On the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, she and colleagues published Living and Working with Schizophrenia. This was an influential book, which has been widely translated. At a time when families were still being held responsible for mental illness in their children, this book fostered a coalition between families and mental healthcare providers.  Dr. Seeman served as Psychiatrist-in-Chief at Mount Sinai Hospital and Vice-Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto as well as Graduate Coordinator at the Institute of Medical Science. She has published widely and was appointed the inaugural Tapscott Chair of Schizophrenia Studies at the University of Toronto in 1997. In 2001, she received the Golden Award of the Canadian Psychiatric Association for her lifetime contribution to the advancement of psychiatric research in Canada and, in 2002, an honorary degree from the University of Toronto. In 2006, was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada for her contributions to the mental health of women. Her research focus has been the difference between men and women in the presentation and course of schizophrenic illness.