Detroit, Mich. (March 3, 2004) Professor Jennifer C. Mendez, Ph.D., was selected by the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE) as a fellow, a status conferred by AGHE in recognition of outstanding leadership in gerontology/geriatrics education.
Qualifications for this honor include outstanding achievement in teaching, scholarship and research on educational issues, influential research publications or theoretical contributions used in gerontology/geriatrics educational programs, including development of new programs.
Dr. Mendez is the director for gerontology education, co-director of the pre-doctoral National Institutes of Health gerontology-training program, and director of the Graduate Certificate in Gerontology at the Institute of Gerontology at Wayne State University. She serves on various boards and committees that focus on aging, health and social issues in the Metro Detroit area. Her research and training projects focus on ethnogeriatrics, end of life care and managing difficult behaviors in dementia. She has received numerous grant awards for developing training programs for health and social service providers, and faculty continuing education courses in geriatrics and gerontology. She played a key role in the development of advocacy-focused senior coalitions on housing and neighborhood issues.
Dr. Mendez received her doctorate in educational administration at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and a master's degree in educational administration from Philippine Christian University in Manila.
The Association for Gerontology in Higher Education, an educational unit of The Gerontological Society of America, seeks to advance gerontology as a field of study at institutions of higher education through conferences, publications, technical assistance, research studies and consultation with policy makers. The Association's membership currently includes over 280 organizations and institutions of higher education.
Wayne State University is one of the nation's pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. In the past 20 years, Wayne State's research has grown 15 percent annually, with research expenditures reaching nearly $200 million in 2002. Over 75 percent of research at WSU is focused on the life sciences, and this focus has led our School of Medicine to climb the National Science Foundation rankings to 22 in 2001.
Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world.