Rodney Frederick Marsden Seaborn AO OBE (1912 − 17 May 2008) was an Australian psychiatrist, businessman, and philanthropist in the performing arts sector.

[2][3] His paternal great-grandfather, Hugh Seaborn, had migrated from England to Australia in 1850, becoming the first rector in Gundagai, New South Wales.

[2][1] He was working as an intern at Charing Cross Hospital as the German Luftwaffe bombed London during the Blitz.

[3] After the Second World War, Seaborn returned to Sydney to look after his mother and sister, Mollie, who was also unwell.

[1] He then returned to London with his mother, and studied psychiatry at Banstead Hospital in Surrey, where he treated many cases of what was then known as shell shock.

[2] In 1956, Seaborn established a private psychiatric hospital, Alanbrook, in a large house Mosman, initially with five beds.

After purchasing adjacent properties, the hospital had 63 beds, and specialised in the treatment of drug and alcohol dependence.

[2] Before beginning his studies, Seaborn made his first real estate investment, buying a block of land at Whale Beach well before it became fashionable.

[1] For some years before his death he worked on securing the future of the foundation, and was keen to ensure that his bequest continued to benefit the performing arts.

The annual Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award was established when NIDA entered into a partnership with SBW.

The inaugural award went to Antony Waddington in 2000, to develop his adaptation of Patrick White's novel The Eye of the Storm.

Tony Larkins, wrote a long eulogy, relating that the press had described Rodney as a "white knight" of the theatre.