Rutherford earned her Bachelor of Science with High Distinction in 1993 from Trinity College at the University of Toronto in 1993.
"[4]: 123 Her 2009 book, an historical critical work on American psychologist and behaviorist, B. F. Skinner—Beyond the Box: B. F. Skinner's Technology of Behavior from Laboratory to Life, 1950s-1970s —was largely based on her doctoral dissertation entitled "Between the science of behavior and the art of living: B. F. Skinner and psychology’s public in mid-20th century America.
[5] A 2018 journal review, described Beyond the Box , as a "much-needed post-revisionist interpretation" of Skinner situating his work within its "social context".
[7][8]: 466–471 In her 2011 review of Susan Brownmiller's 1975 Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape[9] published in the Psychology of Women Quarterly , Rutherford wrote that prior to Brownmiller's book, most Americans had assumed that "rape, incest and domestic violence rarely happened and that when they did, they were perpetrated by a few sexual deviants.
[11] Rutherford appeared as an expert on Skinner, on the August 28, 2019 episode, "A History of Persuasion", on WNYC Studios' On the Media hosted by Kai Wright and reported by Amanda Aronczyk.