Prestigious Hartford grants bolster awardees' social work research

Six outstanding students have been chosen as the newest recipients of the prestigious Hartford Doctoral Fellowship in geriatric social work. The program is funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation, administered by The Gerontological Society of America, and directed by James Lubben, DSW, MPH.

Each of the Hartford Doctoral Fellows receives a $50,000 dissertation grant plus $20,000 in matching support from their home institutions, which enables recipients to more fully concentrate on their dissertation research projects over the next two years. Fellows also receive supplemental academic career guidance and mentoring, as well as professional development enabling them to more successfully launch an academic career in gerontology and social work.

This year's cohort consists of:

Christina Matz-Costa

Boston College

Dissertation Topic: Productive Aging in the Workplace: Understanding Factors that Promote or Impede Engagement in Work Roles

Mary Kate Dennis

University of Michigan

Dissertation Topic: Health Insights of Native American Older Adults: From Wellness to Illness

Scott Easton

University of Iowa

Dissertation Topic: Men Who Were Sexually Abused as Children: An Examination of Factors that Influence Long-Term Mental Health

Kimberly J. Johnson

University of Massachusetts at Boston

Dissertation Topic: Volunteering Among Surviving Spouses: The Impact of Volunteer Activity on the Health of the Recently Widowed

Dennis Kao

University of Southern California

Dissertation Topic: State Variations in Linguistic Competency Policies and the Effects on Access to Health Services Among Older Immigrant Populations

Kristin Scherrer

University of Michigan

Dissertation Topic: The Intergenerational Relationships of Grandparents and their GLBQ Grandchildren

The fellowship program is a component of the nationwide Geriatric Social Work Initiative, which seeks to expand the training of social workers in order to improve the health and well being of older persons and their families. It was created to help social work doctoral students overcome their greatest obstacles, such as limited teacher training and career guidance. These fellowships cultivate the next generation of geriatric social work faculty as teachers, role models and mentors for future generations of geriatric social workers.

Lubben, the Louise McMahon Ahearn University Chair at Boston College and a professor emeritus at UCLA, works together with a national program committee to select the Fellows. This year's committee consists of Iris Chi, DSW, of the University of Southern California; Namkee Choi, PhD, of the University of Texas at Austin; Ruth Dunkle, PhD, of the University of Michigan; Grover Gilmore, PhD, of Case Western University; Jan Greenberg, PhD, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Nancy Morrow-Howell, PhD, of Washington University in St. Louis; Holly Nelson-Becker, PhD, of the University of Kansas; and Deborah Waldrop, PhD, of the State University of New York at Buffalo. Ad hoc members include Barbara Berkman, DSW, PhD, of Columbia University and the Hartford Faculty Scholars Program, and Carmen Morano, PhD, of Hunter College and the Hartford Pre-Dissertation Award Program.

Source: The Gerontological Society of America