Worthy earned his undergraduate degree from North Greenville College and Furman University. After spending four years in the air force as a communications analyst and one year as a high school history teacher, he enrolled as a graduate student at the Unviersity of Florida. In 1965, he graduated with an M.A. and a Ph.D. in social psychology. For the last seven years, Dr. Worthy has been on faculty of Georgia State University. His duties have included teaching, research, counseling, and supervision of graduate students.