The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) -- the nation's largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging -- has chosen Kenneth Ferraro, PhD, FGSA, of Purdue University, and Frank Infurna, PhD, of Arizona State University as the 2018 recipients of the Richard Kalish Innovative Publication Award.
This distinguished honor recognizes insightful and innovative publications on aging and life course development in the behavioral and social sciences. The award is underwritten by the Baywood Publishing Company and named after social psychologist Richard Kalish, PhD. Any empirical or conceptual publication that represents state-of-the-art thinking in aging and life course development is eligible for the awards, provided it is in English and was published in the last three years.
The award presentation will take place at GSA's 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting, which will be held from November 14 to 18 in Boston, Massachusetts. This conference is organized to foster interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers, educators, and practitioners who specialize in the study of the aging process. Visit http://www.geron.org/2018 for further details.
Ferraro is a Distinguished Professor of Sociology and director of the Center on Aging and the Life Course at Purdue University. He earned the Kalish Award in the book category for "The Gerontological Imagination: An Integrative Paradigm of Aging," published by Oxford University Press. In this book, Ferraro addresses the reality that most individuals involved in the field of gerontology are also involved in other fields, such as sociology, psychology, biology, or health care. His work articulates a paradigm for the scientific study of aging that incorporates concepts and empirical generalizations from multiple disciplines. He identifies intellectual common ground in gerontology that enables theories, models, and research to be interpreted across disciplines.
Infurna is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University. He earned the Kalish Award in the article category for "The Multidimensional Nature of Resilience to Spousal Loss," which appeared in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Findings shared in this article demonstrate that resilience in the face of spousal bereavement is less common than previously thought. The study includes multiple pertinent outcomes and establishes that resilience in one outcome may co-exist with declines in other important domains. It also underscores the critical importance of multidimensional approaches to studying adversities across the lifespan.
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The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) is the nation's oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging. The principal mission of the Society -- and its 5,500+ members -- is to advance the study of aging and disseminate information among scientists, decision makers, and the general public. GSA's structure also includes a policy institute, the National Academy on an Aging Society, and an educational branch, the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education.