Welcome: From the Director

The Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development is an all-university Center, serving as a resource for the entire Duke University and Medical Center community, with 126 faculty members from a broad spectrum of departments, designated as Senior Fellows. The Offices of the Director and some of the most closely associated faculty and staff are located in the Busse Building of the Medical Center, adjacent to the main university campus. On a broader scale, a number of programs operating in the Aging Center and/or in the University at large assist Center investigators in the mission of the Center.

George Maddox passes away at age 87

George L. Maddox, Ph.D., passed away on August 9, 2012. At the time of his death, he was Professor Emeritus in the Department of Sociology at Duke University. He served as Director of the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development from1972-1982, as Chairman of the University Council for Aging and Human Development from 1982-1992, and as Director of the Long-Term Care Resources Center from 1990-2009. Maddox excelled in aging research, education, and service to older adults. His major areas of research included longitudinal studies of normal aging, multi-dimensional functional assessment, and aging health and social policy. He published more than 250 journal articles and book chapters. His first aging publication was in 1960; his last was in 2010. He mentored a large number of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty, many of whom became distinguished gerontology leaders. His efforts in policy and practice resulted in the development of the Geriatric Evaluation and Treatment Clinic at Duke University Medical Center; a subsidized public housing project for older adults that includes supportive services; and a variety of tools used in assessment, program planning and program evaluation in long-term care settings. Maddox was a member and leader of this section from its beginning. He was a founding member of the section in 1979 and was elected to its first Council. He chaired the Section on Aging (its name at the time) in 1983-84. Maddox was the second scholar, following Gordon Streib, to receive the section’s lifetime achievement award (now the Matilda White Riley Award). Maddox also was a leader in the Gerontological Society of America (GSA), where he was elected chair of the Behavioral and Social Sciences Section and, later, society president. He won numerous GSA awards including the society-wide Kleemeier Award for lifetime research contributions, and the Distinguished Career Contribution and Distinguished Mentoring Awards from the Behavioral and Social Sciences Section. Maddox was a founding member of the Advisory Council of the National Institute on Aging. He received Duke University’s Humanitarian Award for his early involvement in civil rights, his many contributions to older adults, and his work in the Durham Public Schools.