FACT SHEET

The Gerontological Society of America (GSA), was founded in 1945 and 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.

GSA is headquartered in Washington, DC. Its core staff of 20, working with elected councils and committees from within the Society, manage all the activities of the organization. Examples include: publication of refereed journals (Journals of Gerontology-four journals of original research in the biological, medical, behavioral, and social sciences, and The Gerontologist-a multidisciplinary applied research journal); a monthly newsletter (Gerontology News); publication of special books and papers; organization of congressional briefings; production of meetings; and maintenance of GSA's website, www.geron.org.

GSA members affiliate with one of the Society's four sections: Biological Sciences; Health Sciences; Behavioral and Social Sciences; or Social Research, Policy and Practice. Student members additionally become members of GSA's Emerging Scholar and Professional Organization, which currently numbers a little over 1,000.

Two special units of GSA are The Association for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE) and the National Academy on an Aging Society (NAAS). AGHE strengthens GSA's academic institutional ties and expands its curriculum development role. NAAS, a public policy institute of GSA, publishes The Public Policy and Aging Report as well as a series of fact sheets and conducts dialogues on economic and policy issues related to aging.

GSA organizes a four-day Annual Scientific Meeting that attracts about 3,500 professionals with more than 400 peer-reviewed scientific sessions and over 100 technical and educational exhibits. Continuing education credits are offered. The 61st Annual Scientific Meeting will be November 21-25, 2008, in National Harbor, MD. Please go to http://www.agingconference.com/about_the_meeting.cfm for more information.

The Society also conducts special projects. The Minority Issues in Aging Project promotes multidisciplinary research on minority aging issues and recruits more minority researchers into gerontology. The Campus Representatives Program seeks to establish a grassroots network to foster the study of gerontology on individual campuses.

Increasingly popular are the GSA Interest Groups that form around specific topics or issues that cut across disciplines. These groups, which meet at the Society's Annual Scientific Meeting, afford fruitful venues for collaborative efforts. Further, the Society operates a public education program that offers an Expert Referral Service (a computerized database of researchers by area of expertise) and a program of press releases on current gerontological research.