Shirley Zussman

Shirley Zussman
Shirley Zussman
	Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Died	December 4, 2021 (aged 107); Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Education	Smith College; New York School of Social Work at Columbia University; Teachers College, Columbia University;
Occupation	Sex therapist

Shirley Edith Zussman (

Jewish.^[2]^[3]

Early life and education

Zussman was born Shirley Edit Dlugasch on July 23, 1914, in the

Girls High School.^[4]

Zussman received a bachelor's degree in psychology at

New York School of Social Work at Columbia University. She received her doctorate in education in 1969 from Teachers College, Columbia University.^[4] Zussman was supervised through her graduate dissertation by Margaret Mead.^[5]

Zussman and her husband, Dr. Leon Zussman, a gynecologist, trained at the Masters and Johnson Institute in the 1960s. The two became directors of the Human Sexuality Center of the Jewish-Hillside Medical Center on Long Island in New York. Their practice centered on communication and developed physical and psychological exercises for their patients. In 1979, they wrote Getting Together: A Guide to Sexual Enrichment for Couples which was wide-ranging and compassionate.^[4] She later had a practice on East 79th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.^[6]

She was a two-term President of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists,^[7] and co-director of the Human Sexuality Center of Zucker Hillside Hospital. Zussman was also past Director of the Association for Male Sexual Dysfunction.^[8]

Ruth Westheimer, the German-American sex therapist and talk show host known popularly as Dr. Ruth, studied under Zussman when she taught at Columbia University.^[9]

In her later years, in her practice Zussman often saw people much younger than herself; at age 99 she had patients in their twenties.^[10] She continued to practice as a sex therapist at 100 years old as of August 2014.^[5]