The Gerontological Society of America Awards New Hartford Doctoral Fellowships 2006

Press Release

For Immediate Release
May 2, 2006

Contact: Todd Kluss
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The Gerontological Society of America Awards New Hartford Doctoral Fellowships

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

The following individuals will each receive a $50,000 dissertation grant plus $20,000 in matching support from their home institutions that will enable them to more fully concentrate on their dissertation research projects over the next two years:

Amy Cohen-Callow University of Maryland, Baltimore School of Social Work Dissertation Title: "Volunteerism as a Protective Factor for Older Adults: Testing a Model of Volunteer Behavior"	Frances Mills University of South Carolina College of Social Work Dissertation Title: "Theological Orientation of Religious Congregations as a determinant of Social Service Provision to Older Adults"
Bryan K. Ford University of Alabama School of Social Work Dissertation Title: "Predicting Public Support for Health Care Funding"	Duy D. Nguyen Columbia University School of Social Work Dissertation Title: "The Effects of Age Cohort and Asian Ethnicity on Mental Health Service Utilization"
Kathryn G. Kietzman UCLA School of Public Affairs Dissertation Title: "A Reason to Care: Motivation to Assume a Paid Caregiver Role and Correlates to Positive Outcomes Among Family Members and Friends"	Frances E. Wilby University of Utah College of Social Work Dissertation Title: "Coping and Depression Among Community Dwelling Elders"

This 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, works together with a national program committee, which plays a role in selecting the Fellows. This board consists of Barbara Berkman of the Hartford Faculty Scholars Program, Iris Chi of the University of Southern California, Namkee Choi of the University of Texas at Austin, Ruth Dunkle of the University of Michigan, Jan Greenberg of the University of Wisconsin, Carmen Morano of the Hartford Pre-Dissertation Award Program, Nancy Morrow-Howell of Washington University in St. Louis, Terry Singer of the University of Louisville, and Deborah Waldrop of the State University of New York at Buffalo.

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The Gerontological Society of America (GSA), founded in 1945, is the oldest and largest national multidisciplinary scientific organization devoted to the advancement of gerontological research. Its membership includes some 5,000+ researchers, educators, practitioners, and other professionals in the field of aging. The Society's principal missions are to promote research and education in aging and to encourage the dissemination of research results to other scientists, decision makers, and practitioners.

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