An Evening with “Dr. Ruth” Westheimer and Dr. Justin Garcia

Moderated by Christie Hefner

This event has reached its capacity and registration is now closed.

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The Kinsey Institute at Indiana University invites you to join us for a special event in New York City:

An Evening with “Dr. Ruth” Westheimer and Dr. Justin Garcia
Moderated by Christie Hefner

Thursday, January 25
7:00pm - Doors Open
7:30pm - Program Begins

At the Blender Workspace
135 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor, NY, NY 10016

Reception with light hors d'oeuvres and open bar

Space is limited, please RSVP by January 16 by clicking https://knsy.in/nycsalon2024 or email mrolfes@iu.edu.

About Our Speakers

Dr. Ruth Westheimer

Dr. Westheimer was born in Germany and in 1938 was sent to a children’s home in Switzerland  which became an orphanage for most of the German Jewish students who had been sent there to escape the Holocaust.  At 17 she went to Israel where she fought for Israel’s independence as a member of the Haganah.  She moved to Paris, where she studied at the Sorbonne and taught kindergarten, and then went to the US in 1956 where she obtained her Masters Degree in Sociology from the New School of Social Research and in 1970 received her Doctorate of Education from Columbia University Teachers College. 

Dr. Ruth is a psychosexual therapist who helped to pioneer the field of media psychology with her radio program, Sexually Speaking.  She has communicated in almost every media form available – radio, television, print, games, home video, computer software, Twitter (@AskDrRuth) and has her own website, www.drruth.com.   Her unique style has enabled her to make wide use of the mass media to spread what she has labeled “sexual literacy”. Her radio and television career has spanned both broadcast and cable both in the US and around the world.  She is the author of 47 books and has produced six documentaries. And her life story has been brought to the stage in the one-woman show “Becoming Dr. Ruth” and in the documentary, “Ask Dr. Ruth.” Gov, Kathy Hochul of New York appointed her the first Ambassador to Loneliness in the country in the Fall of 2023.

After working at Planned Parenthood she was prompted to further her education in human sexuality at New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical Center where she then worked as an Adjunct Associate Professor.   In addition to her own private practice she has also taught at Lehman College, Brooklyn College, Adelphi University, Columbia University and West Point. From 2004 to 2010 she taught at both Princeton and Yale and later taught at her alma mater, Columbia Teachers College A frequent lecturer at universities across the country she has twice been named “ College Lecturer of the Year” as well as appeared on the List of Most Intriguing People of the Century. She was on the cover of People Magazine and included in Good Housekeeping’s list of 125 Women Who Changed the World.  She has received numerous honorary degrees and awards.

She is a member of the board of  the Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust.  Dr Westheimer has 2 children and 4 grandchildren.

Christie Hefner

Christie Hefner is a seasoned professional with more than thirty years’ experience at executive levels in both public and private companies, as well as multiple company directorships.  She works with a number of innovative companies on strategy and growth and also serves on the boards of Springboard Enterprises, a nonprofit that is an accelerator for women tech entrepreneurs and supports them as they raise capital to grow their businesses, and The Center for American Progress Action, the leading progressive public policy think tank. 

From 1988-2008, Christie was Chairman and CEO of Playboy Enterprises, Inc. making her the longest serving female Chairman and CEO at that time of a U.S. public company.  During her tenure, she transformed the company, initiating its highly successful international multi-media expansions.  She also greatly expanded the leveraging of the Playboy brand via licensing, generating close to $1 billion in annual global retail sales, 80% of them in women’s products.  When she left, over 40% of her executives were women, and for three years she was named to FORTUNE’s list of “The 100 Most Powerful Women in the World.”

From 2009-2013, Christie headed up a new entity, Canyon Ranch Enterprises, to leverage the Canyon Ranch brand and content.  This entailed building a multi-media strategy including app’s, a robust healthy living site, DVD’s, books and radio programming, and developing personalized subscription digital coaching programs and business partnerships in the healthy eating, personal care and employee wellness areas. 

She has been a Trustee of Rush University Medical Center since 1993 and previously served as the CORE Center’s Project Chairman and then Foundation Board Member, leading the effort to raise $30 million to build this innovative clinic and research facility for people with HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases.  Over many years, the Playboy and Hugh Hefner Foundations, have advocated for human and civil rights related to sex and sexuality, including providing scientifically-based sexuality education to the adult public, and supporting SIECUS (Sex Information and Education Council of the United States), The Masters & Johnson Institute, and the Kinsey Institute.  Christie served on the board of the Masters & Johnson Institute and now serves as a Senior Advisor on the Kinsey Institute’s International Advisory Council.

Dr. Justin Garcia 

Dr. Justin Garcia is an evolutionary biologist and sex researcher. He is the Executive Director and a Senior Scientist at the Kinsey Institute and the Ruth N. Halls Professor of Gender Studies at Indiana University. His research program focuses on the evolutionary and biocultural foundations of romantic and sexual relationships across the life course.

Dr. Garcia and colleagues have conducted research on a variety of topics related to social and sexual behaviors and intimate relationships, including variation in monogamy, intimacy, gender, courtship, dating, desire, satisfaction, and reproductive strategies. A specialist in interdisciplinary collaboration, Garcia’s research draws from and cuts across multiple fields of study. This approach aids his lab's exploration of the relationship context of sexuality, including the meaning, expression, and impact of romantic and sexual attitudes and behaviors.

Dr. Garcia is also adjunct faculty with the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI, and holds affiliate faculty appointments with the IU Network Science Institute and the Cognitive Science program at Indiana University, Bloomington, where he is also a Research Fellow with the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention in the School of Public Health – Bloomington.

Since 2010, Dr. Garcia has served as a Scientific Advisor to Match.com. In this role, Garcia provides expertise to Singles in America (SIA), the online dating company's annual study on the attitudes and behaviors of single people in the United States.

Dr. Garcia has appeared in a wide variety of news outlets and documentaries, including CNN, MSNBC, HBO, "The Dr. Oz Show," Netflix and National Geographic, and his research and expertise have been featured in venues such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time, Cosmopolitan and Vanity Fair.

About the Kinsey Institute

For 75 years, the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University has been a trusted source for scientific information on sexuality, gender, sexual health, and reproduction. As a premier sex research institute, we fulfill our mission to foster and promote a greater understanding of human sexuality and relationships through research, education and public outreach. The Kinsey Institute Library & Special Collections also offer researchers and students access to the world's largest collection of sexuality-related archival items for study.