As pressures on public resources increase, more consideration is given to the role of private foundations in responding to the needs of the elderly--our fastest-growing population sector. Focusing on the philanthropic funding of social science research on aging, this study looks at the potential of the private sector and suggests strategies for addressing the research priorities posed by a rapidly aging population. Sontz begins by examining the contributions of modern philanthropy to the growth of social science. She summarizes the evolution of major American foundations and their impact on the academic expansion of anthropology, sociology, and social work, and she discusses the recent growth of late-age studies in these disciplines. Based on a survey of the research plans and funding requirements of social gerontology scholars, Sontz evaluates the present underdeveloped role of foundation grant making in supporting studies relating to the elderly. She notes that most foundations continue to adhere to a mandate that encompasses social reform. Foundations need, however, to show marked interest in sponsoring interdisciplinary approaches to aging within the social sciences. In her final chapter, Sontz suggests possible research areas in social and cultural gerontology that could attract grant funding and increase the effectiveness of foundation programming, especially to researchers in university settings. Written by a social science scholar with extensive experience in foundation management, this study addresses the interests of foundations, university planners and administrators, and researchers in gerontology and related policy studies.

This definitive guide encompasses past, present, and future issues of theory, research, and practice in areas of interest and specialization in aging, and represents current trends of thought on gerontology, the science of and associated practices with the elderly. This volume is a collection of articles dealing with the psychological, social, and cultural domains affecting older people and contains general biomedical understandings and practical/clinical applications. The contributors broadly outline some of the most relevant academic issues, including cross-cultural perspectives on age and aging; past and future trends in life expectancy with underlying explanations; innovations and advances in research design and methodology in the study of the aging process and the effects of age as a variable; and past and current theoretical perspectives on the psychology and sociology of aging. Some pertinent concerns for practitioners and clinicians are addressed, such as successful counseling therapies with older adults and changes in social work and rehabilitation practice with the elderly. The thought-provoking chapters provide a wide-sweeping, multidisciplinary review of a rapidly expanding field of interest and represent a definite desire among the contributors to evolve a theoretical apparatus and a related, applied arena of endeavor.

This important work on a significant and timely issue of concern will broaden our understanding and awareness of the rising number of positive efforts within gerontological studies now being derived from diverse disciplinary roots. The reader will find articles on subjects of particular interest, such as the Biology of Aging, the Psychology of Adult Development and Aging, Rehabilitation of the Elderly, and Social Work and Aging. An extraordinarily detailed reference, this work will be a valuable resource for gerontologists, social workers, psychologists, and doctors specializing in geriatrics.

Bibliographies of American college presidents are scarce and background data are widely scattered in article, monographic, and biographic form. Ann H. L. Sontz's new bibliography is the first work on this significant topic in 30 years, a period that has witnessed a real expansion of interest in higher education and in the role of the university president both in educational reform and institutional definition maintenance. The volume reflects the fact that much of the finest biographical material on educators has become available only during the past three decades. The Review Essay is a substantial critical review of the past and current role of the college president and its changes in function and perception from early America to 1988. The essay asserts that educational innovations are now as likely to come from presidents of smaller institutions as they are from larger ones and that the social theories of academic presidents need to be scrutinized and placed more firmly in their sociocultural context. Source materials in the bibliography section have been selected with an eye toward both accessibility and relevancy. Only those presidential writings that pertain directly to issues of education and academic governance are cited. Autobiographical materials and educational biographies written by college and university presidents are found here also.

The volume contains a foreword by Paula G. Rubel, Professor of Anthropology at Barnard College, a list of tables, and a helpful section that describes the bibliography's organization and discusses selection criteria. The bibliography itself is preceded by a brief introductory essay that outlines a few of the major trends that have dominated research on the academic presidency. A separate section on background works includes general and theoretical works on the study of higher education and academic leadership; historical studies; references to criteria for presidential assessment and selection; citations relevant to academic finance, fund-raising, and philanthropy; and references to issues confronting presidents of women's, minority, and sectarian institutions. Biographies are treated separately. The archivist and researcher will find an integrated compilation of doctoral dissertations on the college president and a guide to the location of presidential manuscripts and papers. Biographers, both popular and scholarly, historians, and educators, as well as sociologists and anthropologists of education will find this reference invaluable.