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September 8 | John W. Rowe, MD

The Julius B. Richmond Professor of Health Policy and Aging at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Previously, he served as Chairman and CEO of Aetna, Inc., one of the nation’s leading healthcare and related benefits organizations. Prior to Aetna, Dr. Rowe served as President and CEO of Mount Sinai NYU Health, one of the nation’s largest academic healthcare organizations, and before that he was President of the Mount Sinai Hospital and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. Earlier, Dr. Rowe was a Professor of Medicine and founding Director of the Division on Aging at the Harvard Medical School, as well as Chief of Gerontology at Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital. Dr. Rowe has received many honors and awards for his research and health policy efforts regarding care of older adults. Dr. Rowe leads the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on an Aging Society and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. He is a former Commissioner of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC).

September 1 | Marc Freedman, MBA

CEO and President of Encore.org, is one of the nation’s leading experts on the longevity revolution. Originator of the encore career idea linking second acts to the greater good, Freedman co-founded Experience Corps to mobilize people older than age 50 to improve the school performance and prospects of low-income elementary school students in 22 U.S. cities. He also spearheaded the Encore Fellowships program, a one-year fellowship helping individuals translate midlife skills into second acts focused on social impact, and the Purpose Prize, an annual $100,000 prize for social entrepreneurs in the second half of life. (AARP now runs Experience Corps and the Purpose Prize.) He has been a visiting scholar at Stanford University, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and King’s College, University of London. Freedman serves on the boards and advisory councils of numerous groups, including The George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, the Stanford University Distinguished Careers Institute, the Milken Institute’s Center for the Future of Aging, and the EnCorps STEM Teachers Program.

August 25 | Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN

President of The John A. Hartford Foundation in New York City, a national philanthropy dedicated to improving the care of older adults. She serves as chief strategist for the Foundation, and her vision for better care of older adults is catalyzing the Age-Friendly Health Systems social movement. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, and recently served on the independent Coronavirus Commission for Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes. Previously she was Dean of Health Sciences at Northeastern University and Founding Dean of the New York University College of Nursing. Dr. Fulmer is nationally and internationally recognized as a leading expert in geriatrics and also is known for conceptualizing and developing the national NICHE program and research on the topic of elder abuse and neglect. She is the first nurse to have served on the board of the American Geriatrics Society. Fulmer also is the first nurse to have served as President of the Gerontological Society of America, which awarded her the 2019 Donald P. Kent Award for exemplifying the highest standards for professional leadership in the field of aging.

August 18 | Jeanette Takamura, PhD

Professor and dean emerita of the Columbia School of Social Work, where she served as the school’s first female dean. During her tenure as dean, nine research centers were established, the majority with international or global foci. Dr. Takamura served as the Assistant Secretary for Aging at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from 1997 to 2001, leading the development and enactment of a modernized Older Americans Act and establishing the National Family Caregiver Support Program. Earlier, Dr. Takamura was a practicing social worker serving youth and families, and held senior executive positions in Hawaii state government and faculty and administrative appointments in higher education in Hawaii and California. She has served on many national and international boards, commissions and working groups, and is a fellow of the National Academies for Public Administration and Social Insurance. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Lucy Stone Award from the White House, and she was also named a Social Work Pioneer by the National Association of Social Workers Foundation.

August 11 | E. Percil Stanford, PhD

The President of Folding Voice and of KIND Corporation in San Diego. At AARP he served as West Region Director, Interim Director of the State Affairs Department and Senior Advisor in the Thought Leadership Group. In his role as AARP’s Senior Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion he led AARP’s initiative to implement a strategy that would ensure equal opportunities for all employees and volunteers and ensure that services, programs and products would be user friendly for all. Dr. Stanford began his career at Iowa State University, then worked at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Administration on Aging. While serving as a Congressional Fellow, he worked in the House of Representatives and Senate, focusing on Veteran’s Affairs. As a professor at San Diego State University (SDSU), he founded the University Center on Aging, The National Institute on Minority Aging and the Gerontology Department, as well as being Interim Director of the School of Social Work. Stanford continues to serve as Professor and Director Emeritus at SDSU. He is a widely published author of several books and articles on a wide range of age-related topics.

August 4 | Fernando Torres-Gil, PhD, MSW

Has had a multifaceted career spanning academic, professional and policy arenas. He is a Professor of Social Welfare and Public Policy at UCLA, Director of the UCLA Center for Policy Research on Aging and an Adjunct Professor of Gerontology at USC. He has served as Acting Dean and Associate Dean at the UCLA School of Public Affairs, and Chair of the Social Welfare Department. He has written or co-edited seven books and more than l00 publications. His academic contributions have earned him membership in the prestigious Academies of Public Administration, Gerontology and Social Insurance. Dr. Torres-Gil earned his first presidential appointment in 1978 when President Jimmy Carter appointed him to the Federal Council on Aging. He was selected as a White House Fellow and served under Joseph Califano, then Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW), and continued as a Special Assistant to the subsequent Secretary of HEW, Patricia Harris. He was appointed (with Senate Confirmation) by President Bill Clinton as the first-ever U.S. Assistant Secretary for Aging in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (1993–1996).

July 28 | Kathy Greenlee, JD

President and CEO, Greenlee Global LLC. Greenlee consults, speaks and writes on topics related to aging, disability and health. In 2020, she worked with the State of Kansas as the Kansas COVID-19 Long-Term Services and Supports Liaison. In that role she interacted with state and local agencies responding to the pandemic. Greenlee served from 2009 to 2016 as Assistant Secretary for Aging at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She was appointed to the position by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. In 2012, Greenlee became Administrator of the Administration for Community Living (ACL), an agency she created by combining the Administration on Aging, the Office on Disability and the Administration for Developmental Disabilities. Prior to leaving for DC, Greenlee served 18 years in Kansas state government. She worked as an Assistant Attorney General, General Counsel for the Kansas Insurance Department, Chief of Staff for the Governor, State Long-Term Care Ombudsman and Kansas Secretary of Aging. Greenlee is chair-elect of the National Council on Aging.

July 21 | Larry Curley, MPA

An enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. He has worked in the field of aging and healthcare for more than 40 years, first as a planner at an Area Agency on Aging in Pima County, Arizona. He was a lobbyist in Washington, DC, successfully advocating for the passage of Title VI of the Older Americans Act, an amendment he drafted; he also directed the Navajo Nation’s Head Start program. Curley served as Nursing Home Administrator of a tribal long term care facility; hospital administrator; on many commissions, boards and as a college instructor at the University of Nevada-Reno and Eastern Washington University. Twice he was appointed Executive Director of the Navajo Nation Division of Health. In 2018, he was named Assistant Dean of the Four Corners Region for the Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine and served as the Public Representative on the American College of Physicians Clinical Practices Committee. Prior to being selected as Executive Director of the National Indian Council on Aging, he served as Director of Program Development for the Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services in northwest New Mexico.

July 14 | Jennie Chin Hansen, RN, MS, FAAN

Chair of The SCAN Foundation and serves on health-related boards involving care delivery transformation, long-term services financing and chronic care innovation, as well as intergenerational health and well-being for elders. She is a consultant to the Hirsch Philanthropy Partners, working on a San Francisco initiative to develop safer and more appropriate care through Geriatric Emergency Departments and emergency service systems focused on those with cognitive challenges, including dementia. In 2019 she was appointed as a Stakeholder to California’s Department of Health and Human Services to develop the state’s first MasterPlan for Aging, as well as to the Governor’s on Healthy California for All Commission. Prior service includes 25 years with On Lok, Inc., a nonprofit family of organizations providing community-based services for frail older adults in San Francisco. On Lok became the prototype for the 1997 federal law that incorporated the Program of All Inclusive Care to the Elderly (PACE) into the Medicare and Medicaid programs, which now operate in 31 states. In 2010, she completed her term as president of AARP, following six years on its national board of directors. Previously she was CEO of the American Geriatrics Society.

July 7 | Linda Fried, MD, MPH

Dean and DeLamar Professor of Public Health at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. A world-renowned geriatrician and epidemiologist, Dr. Fried has led ongoing innovation across her career supporting the goal of healthy longevity. Innovations include substantial scientific advancements in defining frailty as a medical syndrome and its causes; leading NIH-funded population-based studies to determine the definition, causes, consequences and prevention of frailty, chronic diseases, multimorbidity, loneliness and disability in aging. Dr. Fried is co-designer and founder of the Experience Corps, a groundbreaking model for older adult volunteerism designed to deploy older volunteers’ social capital to foster children’s elementary school success and promote the health of the older volunteers, now in 23 U.S. cities and multiple countries, under the auspices of AARP. She was appointed co-chair of the National Academy of Medicine’s 2019–2022 Global Commission on a Global Roadmap for Healthy Longevity, is an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, and of its executive Council, and past President of the Association of American Physicians.

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June 30 | Imani Woody, PhD

The founding director and CEO of Mary’s House for Older Adults, Inc., a nonprofit serving LGBTQ/SGL elders experiencing housing insecurity and isolation. She is principal of IWF Consulting, LLC, providing board and staff development, and has been a life coach for more than 10 years. She has served on the board of directors of the Mautner Project for lesbians, the Women in the Life Association, and Whitman Walker Lesbian Services, and is the former Chair of SAGE Metro DC. Dr. Woody was appointed Commissioner to the Office of LGBTQ Affairs by former DC Mayor Vincent Gray and current Mayor Muriel Bowser, and was recently appointed Commissioner by Bowser to serve on the Global Age-Friendly Task Force. Dr. Woody is the Program Officer for the 50+ Ministry of Metropolitan Community Churches and serves on the Board of the LGBT Technology Institute. Dr. Woody retired from AARP to start Mary’s House and recently, she secured an expert board of advisors and a commitment of $1.2 million from the District of Columbia to begin construction on the first Mary’s House dwelling in Washington, DC.

June 23 | Paul Nathanson, JD

A national leader in legal services and elder justice. Nathanson founded Justice in Aging (JIA) (formerly the National Senior Citizens law Center) and was its Executive Director from 1972–1980. He returned to lead Justice in Aging from 2008–2013, and now serves as special counsel, working on projects such as its efforts to restore and improve the Supplemental Security Income program. In between, he was the director of the University of New Mexico (UNM) Institute of Public Law, and a member of the law school faculty, where he is now emeritus. In 2018 ASA honored Paul with its Hall of Fame Award. Paul is a past president of the American Society on Aging and a founding member of the ABA Commission on Law and Aging. He also has served as National Secretary of the Gray Panthers and is a past Chair of the Board of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM); he is currently on the NCPSSM Board.