Professor Whitbourne received her Ph. D. from Columbia University and has dual specializations in life-span developmental psychology and clinical psychology. She has taught at the State University of New York at Geneseo and the University of Rochester. At the University of Massachusetts, she received the University's Distinguished Teaching Award and the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teacher Award. In 2002, she received the Florence Denmark/Psi Chi National Faculty Advisor Award and in 2003, the APA Division 20 (Adult Development and Aging) Master Mentor Award . She is the Honors Coordinator in the Psychology Department and the Director of the Office of National Scholarship Advisement in the newly established Commonwealth Honors College. The author of fourteen books and over one hundred journal articles and book chapters, Professor Whitbourne is regarded as an expert in the field of personality development in adulthood and old age. She is currently the APA Council Representative of Division 20 of APA having also served as Division 20 President. Professor Whitbourne has developed nationally recognized approaches to technological innovations in teaching, and the web site she developed for her introductory psychology course was selected as a McGraw-Hill Web Cafe "Site of the Month."