Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer is a psychosexual therapist who helped pioneer the field of media psychology with her radio program, Sexually Speaking, which first aired in New York in 1981. Within a few years, she had built a communications network to distribute her expertise that included television, books, newspapers, games, calendars, home videos, and computer software.
Dr. Westheimer studied psychology at the Sorbonne in Paris, received her Master’s Degree in Sociology from the Graduate Faculty of the New School of Social Research and her Doctorate of Education (EdD) in the Interdisciplinary Study of the Family from Columbia University Teacher’s College. Working at Planned Parenthood prompted her to further her education in human sexuality by studying under Dr. Helen Singer Kaplan at New York Hospital–Cornell University Medical Center. She later participated in the program for five years as an adjunct associate professor. She has also taught at Lehman College, Brooklyn College, Adelphi University, Columbia University, and West Point.
She is currently an associate fellow at Calhoun College at Yale University, where she teaches a class on the family, a fellow at Butler College at Princeton University, where she teaches a class on the Jewish family in the Department of Judaic Studies, and an adjunct professor at New York University.
Dr. Westheimer is a fellow of New York Academy of Medicine and has her own private practice in New York. She frequently lectures around the world, including at universities, and has twice been named “College Lecturer of the Year.” She has received honorary doctorates from Hebrew Union College—Institute of Religion, Trinity College, and Lehman College, as well as a Medal of Excellence from Columbia Teacher’s College.
Dr. Westheimer has written 31 books. Some of the others include Dr. Ruth’s Encyclopedia of Sex, Dr. Ruth’s Sex After 50, The Art of Arousal, The Olive and the Tree: The Secret Strengths of the Druze, and Rekindling Romance For Dummies. And Dr. Ruth can be found on the Web at www.drruth.com.
Pierre A. Lehu has been Dr. Ruth’s “Minister of Communications” for more than 25 years. He has co-authored 13 books with her.
