Earlier this year, three Spartans were selected as honorees by the Southern Gerontological Society (SGS) for the Gerontologist Rooted In The South (GRITS) award.
Dr. Rebecca Adams, Dr. Janice Wassel, and Dr. Richard Tucker ’70 MA were selected.
The award seeks to maintain and stimulate interest in the history of SGS and perpetuate the legacy of past and present members. Members are recognized for their achievements in the field of gerontology, their contributions to enhancing the lives of elders in the SGS region, and their service as role models for future generations interested in the advancement of knowledge and practice in the field of aging.
Adams was recruited to UNCG in 1983 to help start the gerontology program, which she directed during the 1980s and again from 2013-2017. Although she now writes mainly about aging music fans, most of her publications, including two of her books, focus on older adult friendship. She is a professor in the Gerontology program and recently co-curated a series of talks, exhibits, screenings, and performances related to Deadhead culture. She has helped develop the Gerontology Research, Outreach, Workforce, and Teaching Hub (GROWTH), which is a network of faculty and community partners who support transdisciplinary aging-related research, education, and outreach across the campus and community. Check out her recent feature in UNCG Research Magazine.
Wassel was director of the UNCG gerontology program from 2001 to 2015. Her research interests include how couples make decisions about retirement timing, post-retirement employment after forced retirement, pension wealth, the relationship of family caregiving and depression, and family structures and decision-making in caregiving relationships.
Tucker has written and taught on the psychology of aging, and his research interests include characteristics of older Canadians in Florida with focus on health care needs and utilization; the effects of respite care on care givers for those with Alzheimer’s disease; and general issues in clinical geropsychology.
Information on the GRITS award can be found at https://southerngerontologicalsociety.org/grits.html
Information on the UNCG gerontology program can be found at http://gerontology.wp.uncg.edu/
