Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Ph.D. received her Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Columbia University and completed a postdoctoral respecialization program in clinical psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The author of over 130 refereed articles and book chapters and 15 books (many in multiple editions and translations), her most recent work is The Search for Fulfillment (January 2010, Ballantine Books). On Psychology Today's website, she writes the popular blog Fulfillment at Any Age, and on Huffington Post, in the Post 50 site.
Included in her pubished books are two texts: Adult Development and Aging: Biopsychosocial Perspectives, 4th Ed. (2011, Wiley), and Abnormal Psychology: Clinical Perspectives on Psychological Disorders, 7th ed. (in preparation, McGraw-Hill). She is co-authoring the Handbook of Adult Development and Aging (2012, Wiley-Blackwell).
Her research covers a wide range of topics related to adult development and aging, including personality development through midlife, contributors to successful aging, predictors of memory performance, and the relationship between physical health and sense of personal identity. Most recently, she is conducting research on videogaming and cognition in older adults. She teaches large undergraduate lecture classes and maintains an active lab of graduate students whose research focuses on life-span development, dementia, and functional abilities in older adults.
Recipient of a 2011 Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association, she is the winner of national and campus teaching and advising awards. She has served in executive board and advisory roles in regional and national professional organizations including the American Psychological Association (Council of Representatives and Membership Board), the Council of Professional Geropsychology Training Programs (Chair-Elect), the Eastern Psychological Association (Executive Board), the Society for the Study of Human Development (past President), the Gerontological Society of America (Executive Board member), the National Association of Fellowship Advisors (Executive Board members), and Psi Chi (past Eastern Regional Vice President), as well as a member of numerous task forces and advisory panels at the national, regional, state, and campus levels.
Whitbourne lives in Amherst, Massachusetts with her husband and has the distinct pleasure of having raised two daughters who chose to follow their mother's profession. Her older daughter, Stacey, a developmental/health psychologist, is now a co-author on her adult development text, and her younger daughter, Jennifer is pursuing her doctorate in clinical psychology. Her hobbies include knitting and playing the piano, and through her frequent participation in aerobics classes, she practices what she preaches about the value of aging and exercise.