Ann Wolbert Burgess, DNSc, APRN, FAAN, is an internationally recognized forerunner in the treatment of victims of trauma and abuse whose work has fundamentally changed how the world understands and responds to violence. She currently serves as Professor of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing at Boston College Connell School of Nursing and Professor Emerita at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.

A trailblazer, Dr. Burgess pioneered the assessment and treatment of trauma in rape victims in the 1970s, co-founding one of the first hospital-based crisis counseling programs at Boston City Hospital. Through this groundbreaking work, she was connected to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Behavior Science Unit to study serial offenders and the links between child abuse, juvenile delinquency, and subsequent perpetration. Her research led to the development of modern psychological profiling practices, drawn from the study of very young victims and the impact of trauma on their growth, development, families, and communities. Dr. Burgess's frameworks remain in active use at the FBI today. She has authored several books, including Expert Witness: The Weight of Our Testimony When Justice Hangs in the Balance and A Killer by Design: Murderers, Mindhunters, and My Quest to Decipher the Criminal Mind. Because of her preeminent expertise, she has given numerous courtroom testimonies on behalf of abuse victims, providing groundbreaking evidence in high-profile cases.

Her work continues in her current study of elder abuse in nursing homes, cyberstalking, internet sex crimes, and missing indigenous women. She maintains her license and prescriptive authority as an advanced practice nurse in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, a testament to her enduring commitment to clinical practice alongside her scholarship.

Dr. Burgess served as chair of the First Advisory Council to the National Center for the Prevention and Control of Rape at the National Institute of Mental Health, was a member of the U.S. Attorney General’s Task Force on Family Violence, and was on the planning committee for the Surgeon General’s Symposium on Violence. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and chaired the National Research Council’s Task Force on Violence Against Women. Some of her prestigious honors include the Sigma Theta Tau International Audrey Hepburn Award and the American Nurses Association Hildegard Peplau Award. She was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 1977 and named a Living Legend in 2016.