Professor of Psychiatric Nursing, Boston College

Dr. Burgess is a renowned researcher, author, educator, advanced practice psychiatric nurse, and pioneer in the study of sexual assault. She has been a leader in the development of the discipline of forensic nursing and in the creation of a variety of professional, multidisciplinary groups devoted to traumatized populations, including the National Center for the Study of Sexual Assault and Rape.

Research and clinical models of intervention arising from this center have been tested in the National Institutes of Health, the Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Burgess’ current research focuses on the impact of interpersonal assaults on institutionalized individuals, namely the elderly and handicapped.

A professor of psychiatric nursing at Boston College, Dr. Burgess teaches courses in Victimology, Forensic Science, and Crime and Justice. She co-founded one of the first hospital-based crisis counseling programs at Boston City Hospital, and later worked with FBI Academy special agents to study serial offenders and the links between child abuse, juvenile delinquency and subsequent perpetration.

Dr. Burgess has frequently offered expert courtroom testimony, including at the trial of the Menendez brothers in Los Angeles. A professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Dr. Burgess is the recipient of the Sigma Theta Tau International Audrey Hepburn Award and the American Nurses Association’s Hildegard Peplau Award.

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