News Release

Olshansky earns GSA's 2016 Donald P. Kent Award

Grant and Award Announcement

The Gerontological Society of America

The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) -- the nation's largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging -- has chosen S. Jay Olshansky, PhD, of the University of Illinois at Chicago as the 2016 recipient of the Donald P. Kent Award.

This distinguished honor is given annually to a GSA member who best exemplifies the highest standards for professional leadership in gerontology through teaching, service, and interpretation of gerontology to the larger society. It was established in 1973 in memory of Donald P. Kent, PhD, for his outstanding leadership in translating research findings into practical use.

The award presentation will take place at GSA's 2016 Annual Scientific Meeting, which will be held from November 16 to 20 in New Orleans, Louisiana. This conference is organized to foster interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers, educators, and practitioners who specialize in the study of the aging process. Visit http://www.geron.org/2016 for further details.

Olshansky is currently a professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also serves as a research associate at the Center on Aging at the University of Chicago and at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The focus of his research to date has been on estimates of the upper limits to human longevity, exploring the health and public policy implications associated with individual and population aging, forecasts of the size, survival, and age structure of the population, pursuit of the scientific means to slow aging in people (known as the longevity dividend), and global implications of the re-emergence of infectious and parasitic diseases.

He is a member of the board of the American Federation of Aging Research; one of the founding members of the HSBC Global Commission on Ageing and Retirement; an advisor to U.S. Preventive Medicine and Swiss Re; an associate editor of The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences and Biogerontology; a member of the editorial boards of Gerontology, the Journal of Population Ageing, and Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology; co-author of the books "The Quest for Immortality: Science at the Frontiers of Aging" and "A Measured Breath of Life"; and co-editor of "Aging: The Longevity Dividend." Olshansky also is a GSA fellow, which is the highest class of membership within the Society.

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