Dr. Genevieve S. May, a longtime Los Angeles psychiatrist, died in her sleep at her Malibu home on Feb. 28. She was 94.
May was one of the only women in her generation to actively pursue a career as a physician. Born in 1909 in India, she received her education in the United States from the Women’s Medical College in Philadelphia and began her career in the new and developing field of psychiatry and psychoanalysis. After doing her analytic training in Los Angeles with Dr. Ralph Greenson, she launched her successful practice.
May lived in a home called “May’s Landing” in Point Dume. Her late husband, Dr. Philip R.A. May, was an international expert in the treatment of schizophrenia and headed various research groups in the field. Following her husband’s death, May announced her intention to donate May’s Landing to the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute to be used as a study center. Subsequently, the Philip and Genevieve May Psychiatric Endowment Fund was enacted at UCLA to support the maintenance and care of May’s Landing.
May is survived by her brother, Paul Stewart, her children, Margaret R. Park and Peter Rheuby, and her grandchildren, Laura Jane Milanette, Daniel vom Saal, Adele Rheuby, Amy Tibbets, Kevin Rheuby and Troy Yardley.
Memorial gifts can be made to the Drs. Phil and Genevieve May Memorial Fund. Checks can be made out to UCLA Foundation and mailed to the attention of Ken Hurd, UCLA Medical Science Development/NPI, 10945 Le Conte Ave., Suite 3132, Los Angeles, CA 90095.