The Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston welcomes Dr. Michelle Putnam as its new director, beginning January 27, 2025. Since 1984, the Gerontology Institute has been a leader in gerontology education, research, and practice. It includes the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston, the Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and Pension Action Center, and partners closely with the Gerontology Department at UMass Boston.

“I love the Gerontology Institute. It’s such a storied institution and important place,” Putnam says. “It’s a privilege for me to serve as the director of one of the first institutes solely focused on gerontological research in the United States.”

Putnam comes to the Gerontology Institute from Simmons University School of Social Work (SSW), where she served as the interim director of the SSW, director of the PhD program, co-chair for faculty development, and associate dean for research, among other leadership and faculty roles. She held the Jennifer Eckert ’08 School of Social Work Endowed Chair.

Putnam is among few scholars with an expertise in the study of aging with disability, building awareness of the differing needs of those who age with a long-term disability and those who incur disability later in life. Much of her research focuses on how public programs and public policy support the needs of these groups.

“Social justice is always front and center in my work, especially coming from a social work background,” Putnam says.

Putnam began the study of gerontology during her undergraduate years, attracted by its interdisciplinary nature: that multiple fields can meld into one study to create greater understanding and to improve the lives of aging adults. That mindset—of connecting information and bridging groups to advance knowledge and create change—is what attracted her to the Gerontology Institute. She sees great strength and potential in the collaborations within the Institute.

“There’s a lot of opportunity to capitalize on the work the Institute already does, and to amplify it, to elevate it, and to use it as an organizing tool,” Putnam says. “There’s so much talent in the faculty, students, center directors, and staff.”

Putnam’s work has been supported by funders including the National Institute on Aging, National Institute for Disability, Independent Living, Rehabilitation Research, and the John A. Hartford Foundation, and she’s been published in The Gerontologist, Journal of Gerontology, Series B, Social Sciences, F1000, Disability and Health Journal and other gerontology, disability, public health, and social work journals. Putnam is the new Editor-in-Chief for the journal Innovation in Aging.

“Michelle Putnam is an excellent addition to the Gerontology team, as a faculty member and director of the Gerontology Institute,” says Edward Miller, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Gerontology at UMass Boston. “Dr. Putnam is a prominent scholar, charting an innovative path with her emphasis on aging with disability—that is, entering later life with long-term impairments, functional limitations, and chronic conditions, as opposed to acquiring disability in older age. Through this work, Dr. Putnam has sought to reduce unmet needs in this population by building capacity in aging and disability service networks, a goal that firmly fits within the Gerontology Institute’s purview of positively impacting the lives of older adults and the communities within which they are situated.”

Putnam is a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and a member of the National Advisory Board on Improving Health Care Services for Older Adults and People with Disabilities, an independent board funded by Elevance Health. She also served as a founding member of the Bridging Aging and Disability International Network, a collaborative project with March of Dimes Canada running from 2011-2020 that worked to advance knowledge about bridging the fields of aging and disability in research, policy, and practice.

“Dr. Putnam is a highly accomplished scholar and educator who, as Gerontology Institute director, will further bolster UMass Boston’s ability to meet the challenges and opportunities posed by population aging,” Miller says.

Putnam comes to the Institute at a key moment. At a time when trust in science and institutions wanes, the Gerontology Institute’s reputation as a trusted source of research and information has become even more important.

“People know they can count on the folks at the Gerontology Institute to be trustworthy sources, good partners, and good community members,” Putnam says. “That’s one of the greatest assets the Institute has. I look forward to supporting and nurturing that trust as I take on this new role.”