About the Gerontology Institute

Gerontology Institute Staff

Gerontology Institute Fellows

Gerontology Institute Volunteers

Fields of Expertise

History

The Gerontology Institute was established in 1984 by the Massachusetts Legislature. Scott A. Bass, Ph.D., was the founding director. Initially, the Institute emphasized public service projects that were carried out in Eastern Massachusetts. Elders who were graduates of the Manning Certificate program played a major role in these projects. (The Manning Certificate Program had been introduced in 1980 in the College of Public and Community Service to strengthen the ability of older people to contribute to aging services.) The Institute provided the Manning Certificate graduates with opportunities to apply the advocacy and applied research skills that they had learned in the program.

The Gerontology Institute expanded its scope during the years 1988-90:

  • In 1988, the Massachusetts Legislature funded the Frank J. Manning Eminent Scholar's Chair in Social Gerontology. Yung-Ping Chen, Ph.D., an economist, was appointed its first holder.

  • Research Division directed by Frank Caro, a Sociologist, was added to the Gerontology Institute in 1988.

  • Ellen Bruce, a lawyer, was appointed director of the Policy Division replacing Paul Houlihan

  • In 1989, the Institute's quarterly Journal of Aging & Social Policy first appeared. Scott Bass and Brandeis Emeritus Professor Robert Morris were the co-editors.

  • In 1990, The University of Massachusetts Boston introduced the nation's second Ph.D. in Gerontology. From the outset, the Gerontology Institute has been heavily involved in supporting the Ph.D. program through teaching by senior personnel, apprenticeship opportunities for students, and administrative support.

The Gerontology Institute gained an increased national reputation for its work on productive aging through two edited books: Achieving a Productive Aging Society (Edited by Scott. Bass, Francis Caro, and Yung-Ping Chen, 1993) and Older and Active (Edited by Scott Bass, 1995.) The latter book reported on findings of the Commonwealth Fund's Productive Aging Study, a survey of a representative national sample of adults 55 years of age and older.

In 1995, Frank Caro became the Institute director when Scott Bass left the University. Frank Caro also replaced Scott Bass as co-editor of the Journal of Aging & Social Policy. In 2006, Maximiliane Szinovacz became the Institute's third director. When she took the Frank J. Manning Eminent Scholar's Chair in 2009, Ellen Bruce beacame the Inertim director.

The New England Pension Assistance Program was initiated in 1996 under the direction of Ellen Bruce through a grant from the Administration on Aging. The Pension Assistance program provides counseling to elders who are experiencing difficulties in claiming employment-based pensions.

The LETS program (Life Enrichment Through Studies), UMass Boston’s learning in retirement program, was founded by the Gerontology Institute in 1998 under the direction of Wichian Rojanawon. The program has grown due in part to funding from OSHER and the name has changed to OLLI.

Jan Mutchler, a Sociologist/Demographer, joined the Institute in 1998, establishing an emphasis on social and demographic research.