Faculty News

Dr. Ernest Gonzales Named Encore Public Voices Fellow

Dr. Ernest Gonzales

Associate Professor Ernest Gonzales has been chosen for the 2020-21 Encore Public Voices Fellowship. Established in 2018 by The OpEd Project and Encore.org, the fellowship program aims “to accelerate the ideas and impact of new and necessary thought leaders working at the intersection of aging, longevity, intergenerational connection, and social justice.”

Dr. Gonzales is one of 21 fellows in the new cohort, who were selected from over 200 applicants in a wide range of disciplines. The fellows will convene four times over the course of the year to explore what must change to establish the years beyond midlife ‒ often referred to as “the encore stage of life” ‒ as a time for personal renewal and social good. Fellows will also be provided with additional opportunities to network with other intergenerational thinkers and innovators and will receive mentoring to ensure their ideas shape the greater public conversation.

A noted scholar in the areas of productive aging, health equity, discrimination, and social policy. Dr. Gonzales is the Co-Lead of the Grand Challenges for Social Work’s Advance Long and Productive Lives challenge and serves on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (DBASSE). His research, which advances understanding of the relationships between healthy aging, social determinants of health, productive activities, and intergenerational contexts, has been supported by public and private funders including the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institute on Aging, U.S. Social Security Administration, AARP Foundation, and Fan Fox and Samuels Foundation. He has been published in leading scientific journals and serves on several editorial boards.

Dr. Gonzales expressed appreciation for the opportunity the Encore Public Voices Fellowship presents for him to further the impact of his work. “It’s an honor to join the Encore Public Voices Fellowship. I believe this Fellowship will help advance scholarship and public discourse on social justice and equity in the 21st Century.”