Dr. Wortman received her Ph.D. from Duke University in 1972. She served on the faculty at Northwestern University and the University of Michigan before moving to Stony Brook in 1990. She is an expert on grief and bereavement, and has published more than 100 articles and book chapters on this topic. She conducted a large study on spousal loss that followed respondents for 7-10 years to identify the predictors of successful adjustment. Her main area of expertise concerns how people react to the sudden, traumatic death of a loved one. Her research demonstrates that those who experience this type of loss show enduring difficulties in many areas of their lives. Consequently, Dr. Wortman has been working to develop more effective mental health treatment approaches for this population. She is collaborating on a book for clinicians entitled Treating Survivors of Sudden, Traumatic Loss, to be published by Guilford Press.