Member Spotlight

Q&A with Neal E. Cutler, PhD, Motion Picture & Television Fund from Woodland Hills, CA.

Q: Why did you become a member and how does GSA assist with your professional development?
A: I became a member of GSA in 1973 when I became an Associate Professor of Political Science and Gerontology at the USC Andrus Gerontology Center. While my research has focused on issues related to aging since my dissertation days, the Andrus position was my first connection to “formal” academic gerontology. And so my first GSA Annual Scientific Meetings and the journals were a very valuable part of my professional socialization, over and above the content of the meetings and the articles.

Q: How did you get interested in the field of aging?
A: My initial research interests were actually in childhood learning, a field known as “political socialization,” but there was little research linkage between childhood attitudes and adult political attitudes and behavior. Early in graduate school I “discovered” William Evans’ now-classic article on the cohort analysis of public opinion, showing how generational cohorts can be observed over time even in the absence of multi-year panel studies. But since both cohort and aging are indexed by age, I found myself immersed in gerontological studies. So when USC was looking at all the political scientists who focused on aging, and the other guy didn’t want to move to California, I got the job; and stayed at USC for 17 years.

Q: What are your key responsibilities at your job?
A: After teaching/researching 17 years at USC and then 16 years at the University of Pennsylvania, Widener University, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, I decided to return to my home base in Southern California but outside of my academic comfort zone. The Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) is the premier provider of older age health and social services to the entertainment industry. For most of our 90 years the focus has been on a residential campus that provides independent and assisted living, long-term care, health and Alzheimer’s care. As Executive Director of the newly-established Center on Aging my responsibilities are to develop approaches to the support of the thousands of entertainment retirees who choose to age in place. So, the Center has developed, tested, implemented technology, transportation, home renovation, volunteer, and other community based services. The Center also acts the liaison between MPTF and the national and global academic communities, and so my involvement with GSA is a strong and continuing dimension of my work.

Q: What is your most memorable experience in gerontology?
A: My most memorable experience was the two years I spent as a Professional Staff Member of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging. On leave from the Andrus Center, I was a “political gerontologist” working on politics and aging in the nation’s capital. By design only the Senator and the Staff Director knew I was an academic on leave; I didn’t want the many staffers I dealt with to think I was there to study them—which I wasn’t. I was there to work and to learn and enjoy the busman’s holiday. It was like a complete second graduate education experience, and I returned a much improved teacher and researcher.

Q: How do you feel GSA serves the field of gerontology and aging research?
A: As gerontology has become much more multidisciplinary, GSA becomes much more important as the backbone of scholarly explorations. The journals, of course, will always play a substantial role as the peer-reviewed repository of research. But I think that it’s the meetings that are especially valuable. In a relatively short amount of time we can visit sessions, interest groups, attend special cross-GSA-section symposia, and generally be exposed to the cutting age ideas, data, and people in our science. Just as my first GSA meetings introduced me to the breadth of scholarly gerontology, so the organization continuously performs this critical function for new generations of researchers and teachers.

Q: Do you have any tips for emerging gerontologists?
A:  (1) Don’t forget to read. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in writing – articles, syllabi, proposals, reviews, etc. – that we don’t spend enough time reading especially outside our own specialty. Since human aging is so interconnected with biological, social, demographic, family, business, et al., factors, “outside” reading is quite often not outside.  (2) As I’ve mentioned a couple times: attend the GSA Annual Scientific Meetings, and if possible, plan your 3-4 days in advance as much as possible.

Q: Tell us a little about your most recent activities/accomplishments?
A: I have two current activities that are especially meaningful, both of which “call upon” my 40 years in the field. First, I am a principal developer of the American Institute of Financial Gerontology, which offers university-level applied gerontological education to financial services professionals. The basic idea is that middle-aged and older clients will be better served by professionals who merge their existing financial expertise with a sound understanding of population aging, individual aging, family aging, and generational aging. Second, my involvement as a member of the Board of Directors of the AARP Foundation similarly allows me to use a career lifetime of knowledge and experience in ways that better serve older men and women, and the social policies that can make their lives better.

Q: Have you had an important mentor in your career? If so, how did it make a difference?
A: The way in which my dissertation advisor, Northwestern University’s Ken Janda, became my mentor speaks volumes about his influence, and also shapes the kind of teacher I’ve tried to be. When I told him that my research would focus on public opinion and aging he said that he wasn’t especially knowledgeable about those issues, so I might be better served by Professor X who had published in related fields. I responded, however, that because brilliant X had a sloppy approach to scholarship, I wanted someone who would read the science and the data rigorously, critically evaluate the ideas and the words, and push me to the next steps. All of which he did, and I’m happy to say that I consider him to be a close friend and a mentor still.