Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Ph.D.

Susan Krauss Whitbourne is currently a professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where she directs the undergraduate Honors Program in Psychology and Commonwealth College's Office of National Scholarship Advisement. She grew up in Buffalo, N.Y., a Baby Boomer herself. She 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). 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. 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.

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 (currently a Council Representative), the Eastern Psychological Association (current Executive Board member), the Society for the Study of Human Development (past President), the Gerontological Society of America (past board member), the National Association of Fellowship Advisors (current 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.

Her PT Blog is Fulfillment at Any Age.