Deborah Gold (PhD86), an associate professor at Duke University, is the 2013 recipient of the Distinguished Mentorship Award from the Gerontological Society of America. Gold, a graduate of the SESP Human Development and Social Policy (HDSP) program, will receive the award at the organization’s annual meeting in November.
This honor is given to individuals who have not only advanced excellence in the field of gerontology but also have made a major impact through their mentoring. The award will be presented at the Gerontological Society of America’s 66th Annual Scientific Meeting, from November 20 to 24 in New Orleans. The society is the nation’s largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging.
Speaking of her award, Gold says, “I attribute this to the wonderful mentoring I received as the first PhD graduate of the HDSP program. Bernice Neugarten led that group, but Fay and Tom Cook and others made a huge difference in my graduate school experience.”
At Duke University, Gold is an associate professor of medical sociology in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Sociology, and Psychology and Neurosciences; director of the Postdoctoral Research Training Program and a senior fellow in the Duke Aging Center; director of the Undergraduate Program in Human Development; and director of the Leadership in an Aging Society Program. Gold’s research focuses on the psychosocial consequences of chronic illness in late life — in particular, osteoporosis.
She has played a unique and important role in mentoring dozens of students who successfully completed graduate degrees and went on to take prominent roles in the field of gerontology, according to the Gerontological Society of America (GSA). She was previously recognized for her mentoring efforts as the 2009 recipient of Duke University’s Outstanding Postdoc Mentor Award.
Gold currently serves as the chair of GSA’s Task Force on Mentoring and has been instrumental in the development of numerous mentoring programs within the organization.