Warm, empathic relationships with other people were second nature to Mary Ann, and she used this ability throughout her life to help others. From counselling a pregnant student, which motivated her to decide to keep the baby, to coaching the managing director of a large UK firm who was making plans for his forthcoming retirement, Mary Ann always listened with her intuitive ‘third ear’ to provide whatever help was needed. Born in Roswell, New Mexico, on 27 October 1938, the daughter of Carl Clardy, a successful farmer and dairyman, and Josephine (Jo) Schaefer, Mary Ann first attended St. Peter’s, the local Catholic primary school, and later moved to Roswell High School. As a teenager, she loved classical music, her dogs, horse riding, and playing the beautiful baby grand piano given to her by her mother, herself an amateur pianist and organist. Martha Graham’s dance company performed in Roswell, leaving Mary Ann with a lasting thirst to expand her experiences of the world. She enrolled in the psychology program at the University of Colorado, Boulder, whose beauty at the foot of the Rocky Mountains fuelled her artistic talents. At Boulder, she developed a passion for psychology, which she pursued after graduation as a psychology assistant conducting psychophysical research first at the University of Iowa, then later innovative studies of team-working with Harry Schroder at Princeton University. In her spare time she enjoyed narrating books for blind students. Contacts there put her in touch with Dr Harold Hyman, MD, who offered a scholarship to travel around the world, which she did, unaccompanied; an unusual endeavour for a young woman in the early 1960s to take. Mary Ann relished her adventure which kick-started an enduring passion for travel. Mary Ann decided to pursue a PhD at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she enrolled in the personality and development stream of studies. She achieved high grades in her courses, including one she particularly enjoyed, an optional painting course that fed her artistic inclinations. In the meantime, her very being had made a serious impression on a second-year graduate student, Larry Phillips, and they married in May 1965. In August 1966, a post-doctoral one-year research grant for Larry enabled he and Mary Ann to travel to London, where they rented a flat in Hampstead. They soon discovered that two cultures sharing the same language can be very different. Fortunately, offers of lecturer posts in the new School of Social Sciences at Brunel University made it possible to continue exploring the delights of ‘Swinging London’, Europe and beyond. For the next nine years, Mary Ann taught courses in methods of observation and interviewing, psychopathology, criminology, and, with Larry, introductory psychology. She further developed her artistic skills in life-drawing classes, and her observation skills in the infant observation course at the Tavistock Centre, where she also participated in group relations conferences. The first of two sons, Matthew, was born in February 1976, six months before the family decamped to Reston, Virginia, for a joint sabbatical year. Mary Ann soon found that the joys of looking after Matt were greater than she had expected and resigned from her position at Brunel. Four years later, in August 1980, Joseph was born. Mary Ann found time to work with Larry as he facilitated group problem-solving sessions, her ‘third ear’ tuned to the emotional undertow that can prevent a group from realising its full capability as a team. As the boys grew older, she divided her time between painting, visiting museums, attending courses offered by the Tate Museums, playing the piano and taking lessons, writing Fragments (a series of charming short stories based on her childhood in Roswell), and writing poetry. With Larry, she attended numerous theatrical and musical events, and indulged in her life-long love of classical music as well as classic American country music. One of Mary Ann’s joys in life lay in utilising her professional experience to help enrich the lives of others. She was incredibly gifted at providing counsel to those in need. Her skills lay in listening, evaluating and ultimately providing guidance, always sensitively tuned to the individual. Her intuitive nature, straight talking and encouragement were integral to this rare talent. Her input was invaluable to many people over the years, aiding specifics such as career and family decisions, but ultimately allowing those that approached her to take a broader, existential view of their life. Mary Ann will be greatly missed by all those who had the fortune to share their lives with her. She is survived by her husband Larry, and sons Matt and Joe.