Sherry B. Ortner (WHS Class of '58) is Distinguished Research Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).  She received her A.B. from Bryn Mawr College and her M.A. and PhD. From the University of Chicago. 
 
She has done extensive research with the Sherpa people of Nepal, and her final book on the Sherpas, Life and Death on Mt. Everest:  Sherpas and Himalayan Mountaineering, was awarded the J.I. Staley Prize for Best Book in Anthropology (2004).   She has published 10 other books, including New Jersey Dreaming:  Capital, Culture.
 
Sherry has also conducted several major research projects in the US, including a study of her high school graduating class (The Class of ’58), a study of the world of independent film, and, most recently, a study of an activist film production company.
 
In addition to her ethnographic work, Sherry publishes regularly in the areas of social, cultural and feminist theory.