Professor Jan Mutchler, a faculty member at University of Massachusetts Boston for more than 20 years and the founding Director of the Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging (CSDRA), has been appointed director of the Gerontology Institute at the university’s John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies.

Jan Mutchler

Prior to founding CSDRA (located within the Institute) in 2012, Mutchler served as Graduate Program Director, Chair of the Gerontology Department, and Associate Director of the Institute. Her scholarship has focused on diversity, inequality, and disparities in aging, seeking to strengthen scholarship and its impact for our growing and diverse older population.

Mutchler produces the national Elder IndexTM, a one-of-a-kind, county-by-county measure of the income needed by older adults to maintain independence and meet their daily living costs while staying in their own homes. The Congressional Budget Office cites the Elder Index as the only retirement adequacy measure that is oriented specifically to older people and takes into account the unique demands of housing and medical care on older budgets.

Under her leadership, the CSDRA and colleagues across UMB also recently issued a report, “Aging Strong for All: Examining Aging Equity in the City of Boston,” documenting disparities across three dimensions that impact quality of life — economic security, health, and social engagement. The report aims to inform the City’s public agencies, businesses, cultural, educational, and religious institutions, and community groups as they seek to change policy and practices to enhance the quality of life for Boston’s older residents.

Mutchler received her B.A. degree from the University of Mississippi and her doctorate from the University of Texas Austin. She takes over for Len Fishman, who announced his retirement earlier this month after serving seven years as director of the Institute.

Mutchler has been highly successful in growing the center and has been a trusted resource and counsel for state policymakers and community leaders. A recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Service in 2016, McCormack Graduate School Dean David Cash said Mutchler embodies the program’s ethos of scholarship, public service, and student engagement through research and teaching.

“Gerontology and the study of how to improve aging in America and around the world is at a critical juncture, and Jan’s leadership at the Institute ensures that the institute will catalyze a new era of cutting-edge research and impact on policy makers,” said Cash.

“The work of the Gerontology Institute is critically important, especially in this post-pandemic era,” Mutchler said. “The experiences of older people during the pandemic have highlighted the importance of research, policy and advocacy focusing on aging. At the same time, our work seeks to recognize and address the detrimental role racism plays in making growing old especially challenging in some communities. The work that our students, faculty and fellows do on a daily basis aims to identify strategies for improving quality of life for older people and promoting aging equity, both at home and around the world.”

The Director is responsible for guiding the Gerontology Institute and its four centers as leading international research, policy, and service centers focused on aging. By enhancing the impact of research and service activities carried out through the Institute’s Centers and by its more than 50 fellows, the director pursues opportunities for McCormack and the Gerontology department’s faculty and students, as well as strengthens collaborations with external partners, with the goal of increasing the impact of their work and promoting better and more equitable outcomes for older people, their families and communities.

Under Mutchler’s leadership, the Gerontology Institute will work to continue its upward trajectory in external funding and to strengthen its scholarship, public engagement, and visibility as a national and international leader in aging research and service to older populations. These efforts will encompass the Gerontology program’s efforts to expand its work at the intersection of aging, race, and anti-racism aging policy. Combined, these efforts will strengthen the Gerontology Institute and Department’s ability to attract and support faculty working in these areas, and help train diverse students from communities under-represented in the ranks of researchers, policymakers and advocates for all aging populations.

About the Gerontology Institute

Created by the Commonwealth in 1984, the Gerontology Institute provides research, education and public service in the field of aging. Four centers bring special expertise in targeted areas. The Pension Action Center has recovered over $65 million for low and moderate-income retirees whose pension benefits have been wrongfully denied. The LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston works to improve the quality and effectiveness of services for seniors across the continuum of housing and health care services. The Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging conducts research in collaboration with government agencies and NGOs, and produces the Elder Index which measures the true cost of living for older adults in the U.S. The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute provides 140 courses to 1000 older adults in Greater Boston. The Gerontology Institute is located within the McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies.