To me, the best part of becoming President of Division 20 is having the opportunity to get to know the terrific people who constitute our membership. Throughout the 50-year history of our Division we have been blessed with the individuals who have built the field of adult development and aging, and who have unselfishly given many hours of their time to nurture people like me at critical points in their career, as well as to help shape research and policy issues. Susan Krauss Whitbourne, my predecessor, provided this kind of leadership. My goal this year is to create a climate in which this rich, successful tradition continues, and to initiate projects to ensure that our presence will be felt for years to come. Most important, I will strive to increase the number and diversity of people who are actively engaged in the Division. With your help, the Division will truly go where no Division of our size has gone before.
Over the past year, much progress has been made in providing people with the opportunity to become engaged in Division activities. Our World Wide Web site, shepherded by our resident Webmeister Michael Marsiske, is the best and most comprehensive in APA, and lists a great deal of information about Division activities and resources. Stop by and take a look (http://www.iog.wayne.edu/adadiv20/apadiv20.htm). Of special note is the educational section, which includes course syllabi and resources. (Thanks are due especially to Rosemary Blieszner and her committee for this extraordinary job! Cynthia Berg, the new committee chair, will be continuing this effort.)
Additionally, our membership continues to grow, especially among students. With roughly 2,000 members, Division 20 has a large talent pool. We are currently working on ways to make engaging in dialogue among the membership even easier. Plans include creating a more inclusive list of members on the Web so that finding people with similar research interests can be done more readily.
Numerous other efforts will also be undertaken. Chief among these will be our continuing advocacy concerning research funding and public policy issues concerning clinical practice, long-term care, Medicare and Social Security reform, and other related matters. Our close working relationships with the APA Directorates, coupled with the many areas of expertise represented in our membership, makes us an important partner with APA in advocacy activities. Additionally, we will continue providing support and information for individuals teaching courses on adult development and aging, as well as for those who need this content for other courses. Exploratory steps are being taken on making the excellent content and methods used by our members available through widely read outlets.
In keeping with the theme of being engaged, we are eagerly anticipating APA's return to Chicago next August for the annual meeting. We are planning a program (chaired by Jane Berry) that includes sessions intended to foster the exchange of ideas and data in provocative ways. Suggestions for symposia that bring divergent people or topics together in the same panel or in other unique ways that will facilitate the integration of different points of view are especially welcome.
Our various awards programs will continue. The student awards have been generously funded again by the Retirement Research Foundation, and the Springer Award for a young scientist will showcase another rising star. Information about these awards will be forthcoming. In this issue is a call for nominations for the Distinguished Contribution Award. Take the time to consider individuals you think would make strong candidates and submit their names.
As you can tell, there are many exciting things occurring in the Division. My goal of engaging more people in the Division reflects my firm belief that only by doing so will our Division continue to prosper. Those of us who have been around awhile (a scary thought, to be sure) genuinely need your comments and ideas, and will welcome your suggestions. Indeed, such openness to experience (to coin a phrase) and willingness to rethink past practices in view of better ideas are the hallmarks of Division 20. It is what convinced me that adult development and aging was a vibrant, dynamic, and growing field. I especially encourage new members to think about becoming involved. Please feel free to contact me or any member of the Executive Board. Besides helping to advance the science and practice of adult development and aging and being part of a most rewarding intellectual exchange, you could have the opportunity to learn the macarena. What other Division makes that kind of offer?
To direct comments about the information contained in these pages, please write to marsiske@ufl.edu