The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) has decided to award the M. Powell Lawton Award 2009 to the Springer author Prof. Hans-Werner Wahl for his achievements in the area of applied gerontology. The award recognizes significant contributions in gerontology that have led to innovations in gerontological treatment, practice or service, prevention, amelioration of symptoms or barriers. Professor Wahl will receive the award during the Annual Scientific Meeting of the GSA in Atlanta in November 2009.
Wahl is co-editor-in-chief of the European Journal of Ageing, Springer's premier journal in social, behavioral and health related ageing research. He has also published The Many Faces of Health, Competence and Well-Being in Old Age, with Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, part of Springer Science+Business Media. He is also co-author of Zukunft Altern, which will be published in October 2009, also at Spektrum Akademischer Verlag.
Hans-Werner Wahl is Professor for Social and Environmental Gerontology and chair of the Department of Social and Environmental Gerontology at the German Centre for Research on Ageing at the University of Heidelberg. He received his PhD from the Free University of Berlin in Psychology. His current research interests cover conceptual and empirical issues of environmental gerontology, the psychosocial consequences of age-related vision loss, as well as everyday competence of older adults and according intervention strategies. He has published many books and more than one hundred journal articles and chapters related to the study of human ageing.
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 ageing. The primary purpose of the Society is to advance the study of ageing and disseminate information among scientists, decision makers, and the general public.