Ed Rosenberg was born in New York City and raised in Connecticut , making him a real Connecticut Yankee. His Bachelor's Degree in Communication Arts was earned at Michigan State University in 1971. He played varsity football there and was good enough, he says, "to have been run over in practice by several people who went on to successful NFL careers."
He received his Masters Degree (1975) and PhD (1978) in Sociology from the University of Southern California , which he still insists is "the real USC". Although his training there was in Demography, he had taken some courses in aging (though he still believes it's something that happens to you whether you study it or not), and was hired by Western Washington University ( Bellingham , WA ) to develop a minor in Gerontology. He subsequently developed and directed undergraduate gerontology programs at the University of Pittsburgh 's Bradford campus (1981-85) and at LaRoche College in Pittsburgh (1985-88).
In 1988 Dr. Rosenberg began a 3-year stint at Bradford (PA) Regional Medical Center , where he helped develop programs to treat mentally impaired substance abusers. This experience, he says, "perfectly prepared me for re-entering academia," which he did by coming to Appalachian State University in 1991. Since August 2000 Dr. Rosenberg has directed ASU's Graduate Program in Gerontology, adding on-campus and on-line Graduate Certificate programs and shifting the emphasis of the Masters Degree program from its liberal arts roots toward a more skills-based, career development orientation.
Dr. Rosenberg says his gerontology specialization is “wherever my students' interests take me; it's far more fun for all of us that way!” Examples of topics of gerontology student research, presentations and publications include the aging of the prison population, the use of complementary and alternative medicines in North Carolina nursing homes, eating disorders among mid-life and older women, and evaluating eldercare training programs.
In addition to teaching in the undergraduate and graduate gerontology programs, Dr. Rosenberg teaches Research Methods – the course students love to hate! – and Sociology of Sport. He also can occasionally be found in an Introduction to Sociology or Social Problems course.
His hobbies include most sports and music - he plays guitar and was in rock bands in high school and college - and he will, on request, wax nostalgically about Woodstock (the real one - he was there!) and his days as a hippie. |
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