Dr. Harvey Sterns, University of Akron psychology professor and director of the Institute for Life-Span Development and Gerontology, received the Area Agency on Aging Lifetime Achievement Award.
Sterns, a West Akron resident, was selected for this honor for his ongoing contributions to the field of aging. He is well-known for his innovation and research, and has assisted the Area Agency on Aging with consultations, presentations and educational development for employees since the agency’s founding in 1974.
“We at the Area Agency on Aging are very lucky to have a national aging expert such as Dr. Sterns as a local resource,” says Joseph L. Ruby, president and CEO of the Area Agency on Aging. “We are proud to present this award to Dr. Sterns, and name it after him in his honor.”
Sterns has served on the editorial boards of Psychology and Aging, The Gerontologist, Journal of Women and Aging, and Research on Aging. Currently, he serves on the editorial board of Experimental Aging Research. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, Gerontological Society of America, the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education and the American Psychology Society.
His current research includes aging and work; training of adult and older adult workers; and personality factors in housing choices in retirement. Other research includes alcohol treatment and aging, and life planning issues for older adults with mental retardation.
About the Area Agency on Aging
For more than 30 years, the Area Agency on Aging has been providing community-based long term care options and consumer protection and education for older adults in Portage, Stark, Summit and Wayne counties. These options include PASSPORT, which provides nursing home level services in an older adult’s home; assisted living waiver services; the ombudsman program, which provides advocates for older adults using long term care; care coordination for older adults of modest means; and the Family Caregiver Support Program, which provides individualized information and support to family and friends who care for aging loved ones.