Jeanne Sinquefield

Dr. Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield received a Masters in Business Administration and a doctorate in demography from The University of Chicago. She went on to play a significant role in the achievements of DFA, overseeing the Trading Department and serving as executive vice president until her retirement in 2005. Through the years, Dr. Sinquefield has had a long history of supporting organizations that enhance music, art and education. She believes strongly that exposure to the arts and quality learning opportunities have life-long benefits for children. Her passion for music is personal, too. She plays string bass in two mid-Missouri symphonies, the Columbia Civic Symphony Orchestra and the Folk String Orchestra. She also is involved in several projects in cooperation with the University of Missouri-Columbia, starting back in 2005 with the Creating Original Music Project, or C.O.M.P., a statewide competition for young composers in grades K-12. The success of C.O.M.P. and Dr. Sinquefield’s passion for original composition subsequently led to two gifts totaling $3 million in the University of Missouri to create the Mizzou New Music Initiative, which is inteded to make Missouri an center for the composition and performance of new music. In addition to C.O.M.P., the Initiative also includes a high school summer camp for composers; scholarships for composition majors; Composer Connection, a distance-learning program; the Mizzou New Music Ensemble; the annual Sinquefield Composition Prize; and the Mizzou International Composers Festival. The Sinquefield Charitable Foundation’s other musical philanthropies include an ongoing program that commissions musical works inspired by visual art; the Missouri Composers Orchestra Project, which supports the performance of new orchestral works; a series of commissioned compositions to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Sheldon Concert Hall; and sponsorship of the first St. Louis season of the acclaimed new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound. To date, the Foundation’s support for the composition, performance and recording of new music has resulted in the creation of more than 300 new works by composers of all ages, including 10 for full orchestra. Dr. Sinquefield serves on MU’s Steering Committee and her leadership has been recognized. Past President Gordon Lamb named her one of the “Missouri 100” for promoting the University’s missions of excellence in teaching, world-class research, and service through scientific discovery. Dr. Sinquefield served as a board member for the All We Call Mizzou steering committee, which raised $1 billion in five years for scholarships to the University of Missouri. Dr. Sinquefield is a director of the Neurofeedback and Applied Neuroscience Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to Neurofeedback. In addition, Dr. Sinquefield helped develop and fund the neurofeedback research for the treatment of autism at the University of Missouri. Neurofeedback is a technology in which individuals learn to change the manner their brains function in response to real time information based on their brains’ electrical activity. Her dedication to children is further evident in her more than 25-year support of the Boy Scouts of America. She was not only a den mother, but a Chairperson of a boy scout troop, District Chairperson, and council board member. Under her time with Boy Scouts in Los Angeles, she guided and mentored 53 eagle scouts. Currently, she is a board member for the Great Rivers Council. Dr. Sinquefield is the activities chairperson of their 100 year anniversary. Dr. Sinquefield was awarded the Silver Beaver Award. Dr. Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield also received the Americanism Award, an annual honor given to people who personify the traditions of our country and the Boy Scouts of America. Among Dr. Sinquefield’s many interests and honors: President, Neurofeedback and Applied Neuroscience Foundation, 2004-present Board Member, Five Rivers, Mid-Missouri, Boy Scouts on America, 2007-present Board Member, Western Los Angeles Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, 1992-present Member, Missouri 100, University of Missouri, current Member, Steering Committee, University of Missouri-Columbia, current