Dr. Ruth Westheimer may best be known for her many television, radio and lecture hall appearances but, that is only a small part of her rich and diversified life. Born in Germany, she went to Switzerland at the age of ten to escape the Holocaust, which wiped out her entire immediate family. At seventeen she moved to Palestine, joined the Haganah, trained to be a sniper and was seriously wounded in a bomb blast during the War of Independence. She later studied at the Sorbonne and in 1956 moved to the U.S. where she received an MA in Sociology from the  New School of Social Research and Doctorate (Ed.D.) in the Interdisciplinary Study of the Family from Columbia University Teacher's College.

 

Dr. Westheimer’s work for Planned Parenthood led her to study human sexuality under Dr. Helen Singer Kaplan at New York Hospital-Cornell.  She has taught at many colleges including Princeton and Yale and she is currently lecturing at Columbia's Teachers College. She has her own private practice in New York and speaks to audiences worldwide.

 

Music has always been an important component of Dr. Ruth's life. As explained in her 2003 book, Musically Speaking, A Life Through Song, melodies and words of songs she knew as a child provided a link with her past.  A fan of the Zamir  Choral Foundation for decades, Dr. Westheimer established a scholarship  fund for HaZamir singers.  HaZamir performances and interaction with the teen singers fill her with optimism and hope for our future. She is thrilled by the growth of HaZamir Israel.

 

Dr. Westheimer is the author of 38 books, the latest is Myths of Love.  She is the executive producer, as well, of five documentaries. Dr. Westheimer, a widow, has two children, four grandchildren and resides in New York City.