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ATLANTA — The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) — the nation’s largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging — has named Deborah M. Whitley, a professor of social work in Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, among its new class of fellows. Whitley is among 49 professionals chosen for the honor this year.
Fellow status is peer recognition for outstanding contributions to the field of gerontology and represents the highest category of GSA membership. The distinction comes at varying points in a person’s career and is given for diverse activities that include research, teaching, administration, public service, practice and notable participation in GSA.
Whitley’s research focuses on grandparents raising grandchildren. She is the associate director of Project Healthy Grandparents and the principal investigator on a multi-state research effort exploring the psychosocial effects of COVID-19 on caregiving by custodial grandparents. She is also a co-editor of GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy, the only journal that focuses on grandparents.
“Dr. Whitley has contributed tremendously to the social work profession through her research,” said Joon Choi, director of the School of Social Work. “We are so proud of her accomplishment. It is an absolute honor to have a scholar of Dr. Whitley’s caliber represent Georgia State’s School of Social Work at GSA.”
Fellows are chosen from across GSA’s membership groups: The Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education; Behavioral and Social Sciences; Biological Sciences; Health Sciences; and the Social Research, Policy and Practice section. Whitley is among those fellows chosen for the Behavioral and Social Sciences section.
Whitley is a faculty affiliate in the Gerontology Institute in Georgia State’s College of Arts & Sciences. She is principal investigator for the Title IV-E: Georgia Child Welfare Education and Training Grant of the Georgia Department of Human Services, Division of Family & Children Services, a program she has led since 2015. In 2022 alone, the total funding obligation was $3,890,596, supporting 86 BSW and 261 MSW students across Georgia.
She also led the development of the School of Social Work’s new online Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) program and Advanced Standing Master of Social Work (MSW) program as the director of online programming.
Whitley will be formally recognized along with the other new fellows during GSA’s 2023 Annual Scientific Meeting, which will be held Nov. 8-12 in Tampa, Fla.
The principal mission of the Gerontological Society of America — and its 5,500-plus members — is to advance the study of aging and disseminate information among scientists, decision-makers and the general public. GSA’s structure also includes a policy institute, the National Academy on an Aging Society.