Martin E. Segal

Martin Eli Segal (July 4, 1916 – August 5, 2012) was a Russian-born American businessman who co-founded the Film Society of Lincoln Center in 1969 with two other Lincoln Center executives, William F. May and Schuyler G. Chapin. He also served as the Film Society's founding president and CEO until 1978. Segal was founding chair of the Commission for Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Assistance Center, and the New York International Festival of the Arts.

Segal was born in Vitebsk, Russian Empire (now located in present-day Belarus), in 1916 and immigrated to the United States.

The Martin E. Segal Awards were established by Lincoln Center’s Board when Mr. Segal retired as Chairman in 1986. Marking the commitment of the late Mr. Segal to support rising artists, Lincoln Center’s 11 resident organizations nominate an artist annually for the distinguished prize, which gives financial assistance and recognition to young artists of exceptional accomplishment. Martin E. Segal Award recipients include:

Melissa Aldana Tyler Angle Paul Appleby Jeff Balsmeyer Inon Barnatan Joan Barnhill Alessio Bax Alan Berliner Sheldon Best Borromeo String Quartet Brentano Quartet Jason Robert Brown Julia Bullock Anna Christy Eric Cutler Michelle DeYoung Meaghan Dutton-O’Hara Helen Huang Michelle Hurst JACK Quartet Richard Kelley Quinn Kelsey Alec Knight Miriam Mahdaviani Nancy Maultsby Reveka E. Mavrovitis Matías Piñeiro Valerian Ruminski Mauricio Salgado Jennie Somogyi Scott St. John Abi Stafford Jonathan Stafford Michael Stuhlbarg Anita Thacher Camille Thurman Daniel Ulbricht Erica vonKleist Kenny Washington Alisa Weilerstein George Wellington Christopher Wheeldon Shai Wosner Xian Zhang