Fernando Torres-Gil, an expert in the field of health and long-term care, the politics of aging, social policy, ethnicity and disability, will be the featured presenter at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work's (GCSW) Turner Distinguished Speaker Series at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 9 at the Hilton University of Houston Hotel, Shamrock Ballroom. The program is co-sponsored by the Houston chapter of the National Hispanic Council on Aging.
"We are honored to host Dr. Fernando Torres-Gil, who has helped draw up a blueprint for an aging America. He has played a key role in consolidating federal programs for the elderly and in helping baby boomers redefine retirement in a post-pension era," said W. Andrew Achenbaum, a professor in the UH GCSW. "His academic accomplishments parallel his extensive government and public policy experience, including being appointed by President Clinton as the first assistant secretary for aging in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services."
Torres-Gil holds appointments as professor of social welfare and public policy and director of the Center for Policy Research on Aging in the School of Public Affairs, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is also the associate director of the UCLA Center on Aging. He is President Obama's appointed vice chairman on the National Council on Disability and sits on the board of directors the AARP Andrus Foundation and The California Endowment.
Additionally, Torres-Gil is the author of six books and more than 100 articles, including "The New Aging: Politics and Change in America" and "Lessons from Three Nations, Volumes I and II." In recognition of his many academic accomplishments, he was elected a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and the National Academy of Public Administration. He also served as president of the American Society of Aging and is member of the National Academy of Social Insurance. As staff director of the House of Representatives Select Committee on Aging, Torres-Gil administered the legislative and oversight activities of the largest committee in the U.S. Congress.
Torres-Gil was born and raised in Salinas, Calif., the son of migrant workers. He earned an M.S.W. and Ph.D. (1976) in social policy, planning and research from the Heller Graduate School in Public Policy at Brandeis University.
This lecture is co-sponsored by the Houston chapter of the National Hispanic Council on Aging (NHCoA), the leading non-profit organization promoting the well-being of Hispanic elders through education and advocacy. On both local and national levels, the NHCoA advocates on behalf of America's fastest-growing senior population. Throughout greater Houston, the NHCoA offers community training, technical assistance, sub-grants and a variety of proven programs aimed at improving the quality of life for the Hispanic elderly. For more information, visit www.nhcoahoustontxchapter.com.
The Turner Distinguished Speaker Series is underwritten by the Isla Carroll Turner Friendship Trust, a Houston foundation devoted to the support of study and research in the field of gerontology in addition to services for the elderly.
For more information on the UH Graduate College of Social Work, visit http://www.sw.uh.edu/main.php.