Judy Norsigian
Judy Norsigian was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1948. She graduated from Watertown High School and then earned a Bachelor of Arts from Radcliffe College in 1970.
In 1971, Ms. Norsigian joined a group of women who had first met during a women’s liberation conference in Boston. This group had produced a newsprint booklet entitled Our Bodies, Ourselves that helped launch the Women’s Health Movement of the 1970s. Ms. Norsigian contributed a chapter for the first Simon & Schuster edition of the book published in 1973. She was among the twelve women who officially incorporated the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective and is a co-author of all editions of the book. During the following years she became more centrally involved with the organization’s groundbreaking work educating women and others about core health and sexuality issues. The hallmark of Our Bodies, Ourselves—the combination of well-researched medical information, accessible language, and the personal experiences of women—put women’s health and sexuality in a radically new political and social context. The book, now in its eighth edition, has sold more than four million copies and has been culturally adapted and translated into twenty-four languages. In 2001, Ms. Norsigian became Executive Director of the organization, which began to use the name Our Bodies Ourselves (OBOS). It continues as a nonprofit, public interest women’s health education, advocacy, and consulting organization.
Ms. Norsigian served many years as a member of the Board of Directors of the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, the National Women’s Health Network, and Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research. She is also a member of numerous advisory and editorial boards. She is an internationally renowned speaker and has appeared on many radio and television programs, including the NBC Nightly News, Phil Donahue Show, and Oprah.
Ms. Norsigian received the Public Service Award from the Massachusetts Public Health Association, was inducted into the Academy of Women Achievers of the Boston YWCA, and was selected by Women’s eNews as one of the “21 Leaders for the 21st Century.” She lives in Boston and is an amateur cellist.
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