THE GERONTOLOGY INSTITUTE AND PROGRAMS OF THE JOHN W. MCCORMACK GRADUATE SCHOOL OF POLICY AND GLOBAL STUDIESUNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON

Age Notes SPRING 2011 VOL. 14, NO. 2

2From the Director

3Benefit Detectives

4Social Security

Forum

6Conversations on

Aging

7EESI Update

At the November Gerontological Society of America (GSA) meeting in New Orleans, crowds gathered to honor Dr. Yung-Ping (Bing) Chen as he received the Robert W. Kleemeier Award for outstanding research. Most of Dr. Chen’s work has been in the area of older adults’ economic security, with a focus on applying his research and expertise to policy making. Among his many roles, Dr. Chen is a GSA fellow, Professor Emeritus at UMass Boston, as well as a Gerontology Institute fellow. Throughout the years he has also served as a delegate and consultant to the White House Conference on Aging and the White House Conference on Social Security.

Many UMass faculty, students, and other guests, had the honor and pleasure of celebrating Dr. Chen’s accomplish-ments at a private reception hosted by UMass Boston at the Hilton Riverside in

New Orleans. Dr. Chen was in great spirits as he worked the room, thoughtfully greet-ing each of his guests individually.

Dr. Ellen Bruce introduced Dr. Chen and spoke about his countless achieve-ments throughout the years. Dr. Chen then pleased the crowd with a wonderful speech, reminiscing about his life journey to the present day. Dr. Chen concluded his speech by thanking his many friends for their sup-port. Everyone toasted a wonderful role model, excited to share this special day with such a great researcher, professor, colleague, and human being.

Congratulations Dr. Chen; you are a true inspiration to us all!

—Corina Oala

Reprinted with permission of GeroNews, Vol. 12 No.2, Winter 2011

Professor Bing Chen Receives the Robert W. Kleemeier Award

Frank Caro Receives Louis Lowy Award from Massachusetts Gerontological Association

Kleemeier Award recipient Professor Bing Chen

Professor Emeritus and Institute Fellow Frank Caro was the recipient of the 2011 Louis Lowy Award at the Mas-sachusetts Gerontological Association’s annual meeting on May 5. Named after the association’s first president, the Louis Lowy Award was established to recognize distinguished contributions to the field of aging in Massachusetts. Professor Caro was honored for his career in the field of gerontology, which includes more than 20

years of service to the University of Massa-chusetts Boston. He came to UMass Boston as director of the Research Division of the Gerontology Institute, as well as professor in the PhD Program in Gerontology. In 1996, he became director of the program and was ap-pointed director of the Gerontology Institute. In 1999, under Professor Caro’s leadership, the LETS program (now OLLI) was created. The learning-in-retirement program soon emerged as an important resource for people

continued on page 8

2 | Age Notes SPRING 2011 | VOL. 14, NO. 2

Thematic Issues of the Journal of Aging & Social Policy In the second quarter of 2011, the Journal of Aging & Social Policy began publishing a number of consecutive thematic issues. The Gerontology Institute provides edi-torial leadership for the journal, a peer-reviewed quarterly published by Taylor-Francis. The journal is distinguished by its emphasis on policy and its attention to international developments. A sig-nificant portion of editorial content and circulation is international. The upcom-ing issues with designated themes are:

The Aging Workforce: Challenges for Societies, Employers, and Older Workers. Guest Editor, Maxi-miliane Szinovacz, Frank J. Manning

Eminent Scholar’s Chair in Geron-tology, UMass Boston.

Advancing Aging Policy in the Second Decade of the Century. Journal Editor, Frank Caro.

Elder Mental Health—The Next Frontier. Co-Guest Editors, Dar-lene O’Connor, Director of Strategic Alliances, JEN Associates, Inc., and Associate Professor, University of Mas-sachusetts Medical School; and Laney Bruner-Canhoto, Director of Perfor-mance Improvement for Disability and Community Services, University of Massachusetts Medical School.

The Long-Term Care Provisions of the Patient and Affordable Care Act. Guest Editor, Eddie Miller, Associate Professor of Gerontology and Public Policy, UMass Boston.

Regulations, Policy, and Oversight of Nursing Homes. Guest Editor, Nicholas G. Castle, Professor, Health Policy and Management, University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health.

Subscriptions are available for online access only and for print and online. See the journal’s website for more information: www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=t792303967~tab=subscribe.

Exploring alternative transportation options is the foundation of a new collaboration be-tween the Gerontology Institute and the Bev-erly Foundation. Both the institute, through the leadership of Professor Nina Silverstein, and the foundation, through the leadership of Dr. Helen Kerschner, have long been inter-

ested in making alternative transportation easily accessible to seniors. The partnership brings together the research skills of faculty and students at UMass Boston with the net-work of transportation providers developed by the foundation and a consumer-oriented approach to senior mobility.

The Gerontology Institute has had a broad interest in the transportation needs and options of individuals as they age. There has been much media coverage of older driv-ers, mostly negative. Professor Beth Dugan, a faculty member in the Gerontology Depart-ment and fellow in the Gerontology Institute, has written and spoken extensively about the issue, particularly encouraging states to thoughtfully consider licensure changes that are supported by the research.

Although driving is an important issue, it is only one piece of the transporta-tion challenge. When people can no longer safely drive, the question becomes: How can they continue to get around their communities and maintain activities and

independence as they age? Their ability to drive may become restricted due to failing eyesight, slower reaction-response rates, or physical frailty. With such restrictions, the challenge is how to continue activities that require transportation.

This year the institute and founda-tion are collaborating on research related to exploring best practices in supplemental transportation programs. A second project is the development of a web-based collection of more than 70 abstracts on senior transpor-tation options to be posted this summer. Additional reports and resource information developed by the institute and foundation will be accessible on the web to spread an un-derstanding of the current state of knowledge on senior transportation, driver safety and mobility, and to encourage discussion and innovation in these areas. Both the institute and the foundation anticipate a productive collaboration that will span many years.

—Ellen A. Bruce

From the Director: The Transportation Challenge

Age Notes | 3SPRING 2011 | VOL. 14, NO. 2

Benefit Detectives Offer Pensioners a LifelineBy Neil DowningProvidence Journal Staff Writer

BELLINGHAM, MA. When her husband died in January, at age 63, Roseline Des-jardins was left wondering how she would pay for the upkeep on her home.

There was no mortgage; the house was paid for. But there were other expens-es, such as property taxes, home heating oil and electricity.

“I had no clue he was going to die so young,” Desjardins said. And she quickly had to face the future. There was no life insurance, no stock portfolio. A pension? Maybe from his old job, but he had long since left that company, and the couple had lost track; it had all been so long ago.

They were married in 1969. They raised a family in Woonsocket. Both had worked, and both had felt the sting of corporate downsizing.

Richard “Rick” Desjardins started in the late 1960s as a drafter for the Providence branch of industrial giant ITT Grinnell Corp. Over the years, he moved up through the ranks, eventually working on specifications for the nuclear power industry, she said.

That ended in 1985, when the compa-ny’s new owner, Tyco, downsized the busi-ness and laid him off, she said. He did some other work after that, including consulting.

She worked for 17 years at A.T. Cross in Lincoln, mostly as a silk-screen opera-tor. She lost her job in a round of downsiz-ing. She then learned to work with com-puters through a government program for retraining workers.

She went to work as an intern at the Woonsocket headquarters of CVS Caremark, the national pharmacy health-care provider, then was hired full-time. She currently works in the company’s logistics department.

After their children had grown, the

couple moved to Bellingham. He stopped working at age 62, and died in January 2010 after a lingering illness — leaving his wife and their two children, Danielle Braley of North Smithfield and Christo-pher Desjardins of Burrillville.

Besides having to cope with the loss of her husband, there were financial reali-ties to consider. She was left with only one source of income — from her job — to cover living expenses, she said.

In time, she met with a financial adviser through a free program run by the local council on aging. She told the adviser about a discussion she and her husband had had years back about the possibility of a pension. The adviser recommended she call the New England Pension Assistance Project.

That group, based at the University of Massachusetts Boston, helps New Eng-landers who have trouble understanding or obtaining their pension benefits.

“I was very skeptical,” she said. “What do I have to pay for this?”

Nothing, it turns out. The group oper-ates mainly on funds from the U.S. Admin-istration on Aging. It began collecting infor-mation shortly after she called in March.

About all she could provide them was her late husband’s Form W-2 wage state-ment from ITT Grinnell for 1979.

It was enough to start with. The group still had to dig through a complex corporate history, said Jeanne Medeiros, the group’s managing attorney.

It was left to volunteer Mollie Feeney, 80, a retired administrative assistant, to sort through a five-page list of corporate contact names — across multiple states — for Grinnell.

Eventually, she hit pay dirt: Through one of those Grinnell corporate contacts, in Illinois, Desjardins learned that her husband’s pension plan had been termi-

nated and the benefits converted into annuities issued by a life insurance com-pany in Indiana, Medeiros said. “How in the world would anyone ever have found this?” Medeiros said.

Mrs. Desjardins received the call from Feeney in October.

“She let me know that they had found his pension and that I was eligible for a small part of it,” Mrs. Desjardins recalled. “I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’ I had to pinch myself a few times.” But she was “very, very grateful” for the work the group did, she said. Without it, she probably could not have traced the missing pension.

And pensions, though not as common as they once were, are valuable, said Angela M. Thomson, program director for the Financial Planning Association of Rhode Island, a trade group for financial planners.

A pension represents “dollars put aside by your employer for your behalf,” said Thomson, a Certified Financial Planner practitioner who runs Coastal Financial Planning in Lincoln. “From a consumer’s standpoint, they are a great opportunity to offset retirement costs,” she said.

From the pension that her husband had earned, Mrs. Desjardins last month began receiving a survivor benefit of $146.81 a month. It will not make her rich, but it is a steady source of monthly income. “That’ll take care of my oil bill,” or a good part of it, each month, she said.

She also received retroactive benefits in a lump sum of about $1,300 (after tax was withheld). She has not said exactly what she’ll do with it. But she has an idea. She turns 63 on Thursday. Christmas is on Saturday. And she has two children and several grandchildren.

“Christmas is coming,” she said with a smile. “I’m going to blow it on them. And then next year? Well, that’s a different story.”

continued on page 5

4 | Age Notes SPRING 2011 | VOL. 14, NO. 2

Social Security Forum: Is There a Crisis?

A Social Security Forum, co-sponsored by a number of organizations, took place in the Healey Library on March 15. Co-sponsors were Eastern Mass OWL (The voice of midlife and older women), the Gerontology Insti-tute, OLLI Lifelong Learning Institute, AARP Massachusetts, Mass Association of Older Americans (MAOA), Mass NOW, Our Bodies Ourselves, and Mass Senior Action Council.

Ms. Francine Kollias of the Social Security Administration was featured speaker. Members of three of the sponsor-ing organizations served on the panel.

Ellen Bruce, Director of the Gerontolo-gy Institute and Chair of Eastern Mass OWL, opened the forum with some disheartening facts about how older women, especially single older women, have substantially higher poverty rates than couples and single older men. For starters, women traditionally have lower incomes than men, which con-tributes to their lower retirement incomes. One of OWL’s missions is to increase the financial stability of older women. Social Security benefits are important to their retirement incomes. In fact, for many older women, it is their only retirement income.

Bruce also discussed how the Presi-dent’s Deficit Commission views the Social Security program. The commission, which released recommendations in December 2010, looked at Social Security as part of the deficit. In fact, it does not contribute to the deficit; rather, the Social Security Trust Fund lends money to the government. When the amount of money Social Security collects from current workers exceeds the amount needed to pay current retirees, the excess goes to a Trust Fund, which now has a posi-tive balance of $2.6 trillion and can continue to pay benefits until at least 2037.

The media are full of contradictory claims. Many say the program is fiscally sound and will pay full benefits until well into the 2030s. Others insist that Social Security will be a contributor to the federal deficit and that Americans will have to delay retirement and accept smaller benefits. Who is right?

Bruce, Kollias, and the entire panel certainly believe it very likely that a solu-tion will be found before such measures would be necessary but that it is important for ordinary citizens to educate themselves and be part of the discussion of how Social

Security should be changed. In light of the scant savings of baby boomers and young-er citizens, Social Security will continue to be a major part of retirement incomes. The consensus of the panel and the audience was that the program must be saved.

Kollias, a 37-year veteran of the Social Security Administration (SSA), assured the audience that retiring Americans will con-tinue to receive their benefits, stating that in its over 70 years of paying benefits it has never failed to provide the benefits promised. She presented an overview of the SSA, noting the adjustments it has made to remain stable and meet citizens’ needs since its origin in 1935. Kollias has little doubt that the SSA has the capacity for further change. She noted that the program was intended as the foundation of workers’ retirement security; it was never intended to be the only source of income. The Social Security Administra-tion’s website (www.ssa.gov/) has a good deal of information about the issues as well as a calculator for estimating retirement benefits.

Each of the panelists addressed whether Social Security benefits should be cut or revenue should be increased. Jessica

From left to right: Ellen Bruce, Jessica Costantino, Chet Jakubiak, Carolyn Villers, and Francine Kollias

continued on page 5

Age Notes | 5SPRING 2011 | VOL. 14, NO. 2

Costantino, Director of Advocacy, AARP Massachusetts, noted that Social Security is one piece of a secure retirement and that nearly half of older Americans have a sense of retirement “insecurity” because they have little or no personal and retirement savings. Social Security provides critical income support and therefore must be strengthened. She noted that Social Secu-rity’s long-term solvency challenge needs to be addressed soon without changing the fundamental structure of the program or eroding the protections it offers to almost all workers and their families, as well as to the disabled.

Chet Jakubiak, Director, Massachusetts Association of Older Americans, stated that Social Security will be available as long as citizens make sure that it is. Like Bruce, Kollias, and Costantino, Jakubiak sees how many Americans have little or no private and retirement savings. The three-legged

stool image of Social Security, retirement savings, and personal savings has become the one-legged stool for many, consisting only of Social Security income. Over 60 percent of people over 65 rely on Social Security for half of their income. Jakubiak pointed to one of the Gerontology Institute’s research efforts, the Elder Economic Secu-rity Standard (see update of this research in this issue of Age Notes.), which measures the income needed for retirees to meet their expenses living at modest levels in specific localities around the United States. He pointed out that the average Social Security benefit in Massachusetts is lower than the amount needed to meet the Elder Standard and that Massachusetts residents could not afford a cut to Social Security. He spoke of the importance of Social Security to local economies through retirees’ spending.

Carolyn Villers, of the Massachusetts Senior Action Council, noted the strong

foundation Social Security provides; more than half of retirees would be living under the poverty level without it. She further stated that because the large baby boomer population has begun receiving benefits, some politicians have incited fear that the funds will run out. Villers believes this fear represents the crisis in Social Secu-rity, not the solvency of the program.

All panelists and experts at the forum agreed that we need dialog to safeguard Social Security, not just for baby boomers but also for generations to come. Citi-zens of all ages would do well to contact their representatives in congress to make known their thoughts and hopes for the future of Social Security.

After panel members presented their views, the forum was open to audience questions. Of the approximately 75 audi-ence members, many had questions that took the forum into overtime.

Social Security Forum: Is There a Crisis? (continued from page 4)

Facts for Older Americans MonthThe U.S. Census Bureau periodically publishes a “Facts for Features” bulletin on a topic. Because May is Older Americans Month, the “Facts for Features” website contains links to information on older Americans for research-ers, demographers, journalists, and older people themselves.

Topics of interest are taken from the 2010 Census and include:

The number of people 65 and older liv-ing in the U.S. in 2009

Projected population of people 65 and older in 2050

The median income of households with householders 65 and older

Number of people 65 and older in the labor force in 2009

Proportion of people 65 and older who had completed high school or

higher education Projected number of centenarians liv-

ing in the U.S. in 2050

The Census site also includes a listing of all observances for its “Facts for Features” series.Visit the site at: www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb11-ff08.html

Pension Sleuths The New England Pension Assis-

tance Project offers free help to people in all six New England states who have trouble understanding or obtaining their pension benefits.

Launched in 1994, the group operates mainly on funds from the U.S. Administra-tion on Aging. It traces missing pensions

and offers other help. The group has recovered more than

$37 million for more than 5,400 clients. It handles about 350 cases a year involving employer-sponsored retirement plans, such as pensions and 401(k) plans.

To reach the group, call toll-free at 1-888-425-6067, or write: New England Pension Assistance Project, Gerontology In-

stitute, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125.

This article reprinted with permission from the editors at the Providence Journal.It originally appeared in the Journal on December 21, 2010.

Benefit Detectives Offer Pensioners a Lifeline (continued from page 3)

6 | Age Notes SPRING 2011 | VOL. 14, NO. 2

Conversations on AgingHigh on the list of topics people usu-ally avoid discussing is something we all do—aging. We are definitely poorer for not talking about it. The most fortunate of us will live long lives, but in the mean-time we grow older with every passing hour—like it or not. Since this is the case, videographer Lincoln Williams believes we might as well do so with our eyes wide open. In fact, as community members, sons and daughters, and as a society, we can only benefit from honest discussion about a process that we all experience.

Williams produces and directs The 88 Lives Project—A Conversation on Aging, which seeks to dispel stereotypes and challenge conventional wisdom about ag-ing. The mission of 88 Lives is to provide a better understanding of how people age by engaging volunteers in conversations over a prolonged period of time. Williams is anxious to solicit different points of view from a diverse group of volunteers on issues including but not limited to love, loss, friendship, family, faith, prepar-ing for the future, learning from the past, and learning for the future. He interviews

and films individuals in their 50s through 90s talking about the highs and lows of growing older. He starts by asking four questions: How are you today? What makes a good day for you? What are the significant good and bad things that you had to deal with over the last year? What do you anticipate that you will have to deal with over the next year? After show-ing three short videos of interviews at his March 24 presentation to UMass Boston gerontology undergraduate and gradu-ate students, faculty, and Gerontology Institute and university staff, he solicited ideas for further questions that he might ask volunteers.

Williams films each volunteer every three to four months, so each mini-biogra-phy is the result of several sessions taking place during a 12- to 15-month period. In the three videos he presented ( from his panel of 22 volunteers), the subjects, each from different backgrounds, spoke on dealing with the loss of loved ones, having the energy to do what one wants to do, experiencing poor health, staying active physically and mentally, dealing with hos-

pitalizations, and loss of independence, among other issues. The changes in physi-cal appearance and well being depicted in the videos generated much discussion among the attendees.

The project website contains the library of interviews; they really are worth viewing. Gross generalizations not withstanding, the interviews portray how, across all cultures and backgrounds, we become more alike as we near the end of our lives.

Over the long term, Williams wants to include peer-to-peer interviews as well as to incorporate interviews from other countries and cultures. He hopes to produce a book and documentary film highlighting findings from the ever-grow-ing video database.

Visit www.88livesproject.com to see the short films about regular, yet ex-traordinary, people’s views on what they experience growing older.

—Robert Geary

Ph.D. in Gerontology

Masters of Science in Gerontology/ Research and Policy Track Masters of Science in Gerontology/ Management of Aging Services Track Now available 100% online!

Graduate Certificate in Gerontology

Research and Teaching Assistantships Available Full-Time or Part-time Study Undergraduate Degree and Certificate Programs Also Available

For online application and additional information visit our website at: www.mccormack.umb.edu/academic/gerontology/or contact: Jan Mutchler, Ph.D., Graduate Program DirectorE-Mail: gerontology@umb.edu or jan.mutchler@umb.edu | Telephone: 617.287.7302

GERONTOLOGY GRADUATE PROGRAMS

Age Notes | 7SPRING 2011 | VOL. 14, NO. 2

Update on the Elder Economic Security Index and Initiative This year the Gerontology Institute begins the development of a national database that will include geographically-specific expense data for all 50 states. The database is the conclusion of the first phase of the Elder Economic Security Initiative (EESI).

The Elder Economic Security Initiative (EESI), a multi-year project of the Geron-tology Institute and Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) that is funded by Atlantic Philanthropies, offers a conceptual framework and concrete tools to shape policies and programs to build economic security for elders and their families. The EESI combines research, organizing, advocacy, and outreach at the national, state, and community levels. To date, EESI is ongoing in 17 states, including Massa-chusetts, California, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Connecticut, New Jersey, Michigan, New York, West Virginia, New Mexico, Washington, Colorado, North Carolina, South Dakota, and Iowa.

Underpinning the initiative is the Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index (Elder Index), developed by the Gerontol-ogy Institute at the University of Mas-sachusetts Boston in collaboration with WOW. The Elder Index measures the income that older adults need to meet their basic needs and to age in place with dignity. The Elder Index is specific to household size, geographic area, and life circumstances. The Elder Index has been

calculated for the EESI in 17 states. With the development of the national database, housing, health care, food, and transpor-tation expenses will be calculated for all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, allowing comparisons between states and an evaluation of the effectiveness of national policies in meeting the needs of elders in individual states.

The Elder Index benchmarks basic costs of living for elder households. It il-lustrates how costs of living vary geo-graphically and are based on the charac-teristics of elder households: household size, housing status (homeownership or renter), form of transportation, and health status. Costs are for basic needs of elder households, are based on market costs, and assume no subsidies. As an add-on component, costs for home- and commu-nity-based long-term care are presented along a continuum of care. The Elder In-dex, with its respective “tracks” for seniors living in different circumstances, shows how elders with low- and moderate-in-comes are challenged to cover their living costs in today’s economy. In addition, it illustrates how seniors with moderate and somewhat higher incomes may be pre-pared for the present, yet face an uncer-tain future when living costs rise markedly as their life circumstances change.

Jan Mutchler and Ellen Bruce are co-principal investigators of the WOW

subcontract, and Alison Gottlieb is project manager. The current Index is based on methodology developed initially by Laura Henze Russell. Judith Cohanan, a doctoral student in Gerontology, participated in developing the methodology for long-term care costs. Gerontology doctoral students Ngai Kwan and Lauren Martin made substantial contributions to data analysis and evolving methodology in the initial years. Doctoral candidate Jiyoung Lyu is currently working in those same areas. Another student will be added this sum-mer. Jan Mutchler has taken a lead role in refining the Elder Index methodology, us-ing cost data from public federal and state sources that are comparable, geographi-cally specific, easily accessible, and widely accepted. Where existing public data sources are not currently available, such as long-term care costs, the Elder Index uses a consistent methodology to derive comparable measures for costs within and across states.

State reports can be downloaded from our website: www.mccormack.umb.edu/centers/gerontologyinstitute/pubAnd Studies/econ-sec-pov.php.

The national database is expected to be complete in early 2012.

—Alison Gottlieb

The Gerontology Institute and Programs are part of the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Director: Ellen A. Bruce, JD. Associate Director: Jan Mutchler, PhD. Address: Gerontology Institute, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125; phone 617.287.7300; fax 617.287.7080; email: gerontology@umb.edu; Web site: www.gerontologyinstitute.umb.edu. Managing Editor: Robert P. Geary; Editor: Ed Hazell; Designer: Angelique Markowski.

GERONTOLOGY INSTITUTEMcCORMACK GRADUATE SCHOOL OF POLICY AND GLOBAL STUDIESUNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON

100 Morrissey Boulevard

Boston, MA 02125-3393

Non-ProfitOrganizationPAIDBoston, MAPermit No. 52094

JOHN W. MCCORMACK GRADUATE SCHOOL OF POLICY AND GLOBAL STUDIES

50 and older in the Greater Boston area. Since it’s founding, the program has enjoyed continued success and now includes nearly 1,000 members.

Professor Caro’s leadership contributed to the institute becoming a center for state policy development, producing papers on gerontology issues as they emerged in public policy debates in the state legislature and public agencies. He helped develop advocacy and support programs for older citizens in the Commonwealth and for those interested

in aging policy. At the same time that Profes-sor Caro was working locally on research and policy issues, he was a national leader in ger-ontology and long-term care research. Caro’s publications list includes a level of innovation and originality that is unusual even within his rarefied group. He has developed innovative research approaches, and his work with col-leagues in productive aging and in home-care services is particularly notable.

Professor Caro has taught thousands of students, from certificate students to post-

doctoral fellows. He brings freshness and energy to teaching, time and again attempt-ing to find new ways to present routine material. Although Emeritus, Professor Caro maintains an active research agenda and still teaches periodically within the Geron-tology Department here at UMass Boston. His work as a leader and supporter of MGA has made a lasting and vital contribution to the organization.

Frank Caro Receives Louis Lowy Award from Massachusetts Gerontological Association (continued from page 1)

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