WFU sociologist named president of Gerontological Society of America

Charles F. Longino Jr.Charles F. Longino Jr., Wake Forest Professor of Sociology and director of the Reynolda Gerontology Program, has been elected president of the Gerontological Society of America. Longino is also professor of public health sciences at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

Longino will serve as president-elect beginning in November and will become president in November 2005. The Gerontological Society of America was founded in 1945 and is the oldest and largest national multidisciplinary scientific organization devoted to the advancement of gerontological research. Its membership includes some 5,000 researchers, educators and other professionals in the field of aging. The societyÕs principal missions are to promote research and education in aging, and to encourage the dissemination of research results to other scientists, decision makers and practitioners.

Longino is well-known for his research on the sociology of aging. The author of the book “Retirement Migration in America,” he is the nationÕs leading authority on later-life migration trends. He has conducted five major research projects on retirement migration and has written more than 175 publications on this and other subjects related to aging. Longino is past president of the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education and the Southern Gerontological Society.

A native of Mississippi, Longino received a bachelor’s degree from Mississippi College, a master’s degree from the University of Colorado and a doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He taught at the University of North Carolina, the University of Virginia, the University of Kansas and the University of Miami before joining the Wake Forest University faculty in 1991.

Longino is the editor of the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, and he serves on the editorial boards of numerous professional journals.

Categories: Faculty, University Announcement