Dr. Leo Rangell (1913-2011) was a leading American psychoanalyst, writer, teacher, and charismatic leader in his field. He championed the insights of Freudian and humanistic psychiatry in an era increasingly dominated by antipsychotic drugs. Rangell authored 450 papers and nine books, taught at UCLA and UCSF for 50 years, and continued to see patients until the last days of his life. In his final book,in The Road to Unity in Psychoanalytic Theory, Dr. Rangell undertook the heroic task of creating a unified Freudian synthesis of the multiple psychoanalytic schools — Adlerian, Sullivanian, Kleinian, Kohutian, Reichian — a project which many of his colleagues considered impossible, but which he saw as crucial to re-establishing the influence and credibility of his field. 

The Rangell Endowment Steering Committee includes Ms. Judith Alley, Dr. Joel Braslow, Dr. Jeffrey Prager, Dr. Bill Resnick and Dr. Peter Whybrow.

In 2014-15, the Endowment sponsored the first Leo Rangell Essay Contest, in Dr. Rangell’s memory.  Winners Kelley O’Donnell, a UCLA MSTP student, and Dr. Richard Tuch, Dean of the New Center for Psychoanalysis, were selected in a blinded review process by Joel Braslow, Jeffrey Prager and Peter Whybrow. Watch this site to read the winning essays!