The award presentation will take place at GSA's 56th Annual Scientific Meeting, which will be held from November 21st-25th, 2003 in San Diego, California. The meeting is organized to foster interdisciplinary interactions among gerontological health care clinical, administrative, and research professionals.
Dr. Whitbourne has had a significant influence on the field of gerontology through her theoretical and empirical contributions and also by the countless students she has mentored over the past three decades. Her theoretical contributions to psychology are well known, including innovations in identity theory and psychosocial development.
She has received renown as an instructor who takes the time to volunteer her services to even undergraduates at Amherst, where class sizes start at 50 students and each faculty member is assigned hundreds of mentees. Whitbourne holds degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo and Columbia University. She has previously won the Psi Chi Eastern Region Faculty Advisor Award and the University of Massachusetts Distinguished Teaching Award.
To be eligible for the prize, the mentor must have had influence on graduate, undergraduate, and professional students as evidenced by the number and accomplishments of their mentees. Membership in GSA's Behavioral and Social Sciences section is required for the award.
The Gerontological Society of America (GSA), founded in 1945, is the oldest and largest national multidisciplinary scientific organization devoted to the advancement of gerontological research. Its membership includes some 5,000+ researchers, educators, practitioners, and other professionals in the field of aging. The Society's principal missions are to promote research and education in aging and to encourage the dissemination of research results to other scientists, decision makers, and practitioners.
Information about the Gerontological Society of America, its awards, and its 56th Annual Scientific Meeting can be found online at http://www.geron.org.