February 7, 2013
Among the best: University's Center on Aging Director named fellow of Association for Gerontology in higher education
Submitted by Communications and Marketing
Gayle Doll, assistant professor of family studies and human services and director of the Center on Aging at Kansas State University, is a new fellow of the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education.
The honor recognizes outstanding leadership in gerontology and geriatric education. The criteria are stringent, according to Janet C. Frank, president of the association, which is the educational unit of the Gerontological Society of America.
"The honor is a tribute to her personal scholarship and leadership in the field of gerontology," said Maurice MacDonald, director of the School of Family Studies and Human Services in the university's College of Human Ecology. "It also signifies that our gerontology program with the Center on Aging is among a select few in the entire nation."
Under Doll's leadership, the number of students enrolled in gerontology, a secondary major, has quadrupled. The center has become renowned for its work in changing the culture of nursing homes to become more person centered.
Doll has received the college's Dean Barbara S. Stowe Endowed Faculty Development Award, the university's Commerce Bank Teaching Award and a Faculty Fellowship Award from the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance.
Her book, "Sexuality and Long-Term Care: Understanding and Supporting the Needs of Older Adults," received merit honors from the 21st annual National Mature Media Awards Program. The book was published in 2012.
The fellow honor will be presented March 1 at the Association of Gerontology in Higher Education's annual leadership conference in St. Petersburg, Fla.