ASI

Dr. Alejandro Garcia is a recipient of the State Society on Aging of New York’s 2014 Advocate for Older Adults Award. The Advocate for Older Adults Award recognizes a record of planning, policy development and advocacy work. This year’s award was presented to Alejandro Garcia, Ph.D. and James O’Neal, MA.

Alejandro Garcia, Ph.D. currently holds the position of Professor, School of Social Work, Syracuse University, where he has taught in the areas of gerontology, social policy, and human diversity for 35 years. Currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, Dr. Garcia has served on the editorial boards of numerous national journals. He is the co-editor of three books, including Elderly Latinos: Issues and Solutions for the 21st Century (with Marta Sotomayor; 1993), HIV Affected and Vulnerable Youth: Prevention Issues and Approaches (with Susan Taylor-Brown; 1999), and La Familia: Traditions and Realities (with Marta Sotomayor; 1999). He is also the author of numerous articles and book chapters.

Dr. Garcia is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, and an elected member of the National Academy of Social Insurance. He was elected vice president/secretary of the Council on Social Work Education in 2012. He has held national leadership positions with the National Association of Social Workers and the National Board and Commission on Accreditation of the Council on Social Work Education. Dr. Garcia is the immediate past-Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Hispanic Council on Aging. He is the immediate past Chair and current regional representative to the National Policy Council of AARP, and a member of the Executive Council of AARP New York. He has also served as a vice-president of the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy (SCAA) and was recently made a Lifetime Honorary Trustee of the Center.

Nationally, Dr. Garcia is known as a strong advocate for Hispanic populations, especially the elderly. For his contributions to the social work profession and those whom it serves, he was named a Social Work Pioneer by the National Association of Social Workers. The National Hispanic Council on Aging acknowledged Dr. Garcia with its Special Recognition Award for outstanding leadership and advocacy on behalf of older adults, and created the Alejandro Garcia Internship on Hunger and Poverty Policy. In New York State, Dr. Garcia has been the recipient of a number of honors including Lifetime Achievement Awards from the New York State Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers and from the New York State Social Work Education Association. He is a recipient of the Andrus Award, the highest recognition that AARP New York awards for community service.

Dr. Garcia has been named a Distinguished Social Work Educator of the Decades by California State University at Sacramento, and has received several outstanding teaching awards at Syracuse University, including Scholar/Teacher of the Year. He has also been honored by the SU LGBT Resource Center with the Foundation Award for Outstanding Faculty Member, and in 2006 was named the Outstanding Teacher of the Year by the Syracuse University Alumni Association.

Madonna Harrington Meyer, ASI Faculty Associate, presented her new book, Grandmothers at Work, at Smith College, North Hampton MA on September 25, and at Colgate College in Hamilton, NY on September 23.

Dr. Meyer was quoted in  “The Challenges of Being a Working Grandmother,”  9/30/14  Boston Globe http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2014/09/30/the-challenges-being-working-grandmother/LmkS5N88ZlpLLJj7nA6ObN/story.html

In addition, Dr. Meyer presented “US Grandmothers’ Financial Contributions and the Impact on Grandmothers,” at the Society for Longitudinal and Life Course Studies, International Conference in Lausanne, Switzerland, October.

On October 9-11, 2014, Ynesse Abdul-Malak presented “Health and Grandmothering among Latin and Caribbean Women in the U.S.” at the Society for Longitudinal and Life Course Studies Conference in Lausanne, Switzerland.

On July 31 – August 1, Dr. Merril Silverstein, ASI Faculty Associate, traveled to Mexico City to speak at The International Workshop on Social Support for Older Adults. To learn more about the event, click here.

To read more about Dr. Silverstein’s presentation entitled: “A Tale of Two Chinas: Rural-Urban Differences in Family Dynamics of the Aged,” click here.