Ann Wolbert Burgess

Ann Burgess is an internationally recognized pioneer in the assessment and treatment of victims of trauma and abuse. She has received several honors for her work including the Sigma Theta Tau International Audrey Hepburn Award, the American Nurses’ Association Hildegard Peplau Award, and the Sigma Theta Tau International Episteme Laureate Award. Her research with victims began when she co-founded one of the first hospital-based crisis counseling programs at Boston City Hospital with Boston College sociologist, Lynda Lytle Holmstrom. Since then, she has worked with the FBI Academy special agents to study serial offenders and the links between child abuse, juvenile delinquency, and subsequent perpetration. Dr. Burgess has also studied young abuse victims and the impact of trauma on their physical and psychological development, their families, and communities. Her recent research includes studies in elder abuse in nursing homes, cyberstalking, and Internet sex crimes. She is currently a professor at the Boston College William F. Connell School of Nursing and teaches courses in victimology, forensic science, forensic mental health, case studies in forensics, and forensic science labs.