SGS Leadership

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Amanda James

SGS Executive Director

Ms. James has been the Executive Director for the Georgia Gerontology Society (GGS) since 2016. She holds a Masters Degree is in Public Administration with a Non-Profit emphasis, which she attained from Georgia Southern University. Prior to her position as GGS, Amanda worked as a Forensic Special Initiatives Unit Program Coordinator with the Georgia Department of Human Services. Ms. James lives in Stone Mountain, Georgia. We are so delighted to welcome Amanda to our team and are absolutely certain that SGS will be in exceptionally good hands and we transition to her leadership.

Amanda is here to be of assistance to you. Should you need help with any facet or function of SGS, she may be reached at:

admin@southerngerontologicalsociety.org
(866) 920-4660
PO Box 80786, Conyers, GA 30013

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Dr. Ethlyn Gibson, DNP, MSN, RN-BC

SGS President

Dr. Ethlyn McQueen-Gibson hails from Yorktown, Virginia. Gerontology is a field of study and service that is important to Dr. McQueen-Gibson for many reasons. The importance of bridging research and practice is the key to addressing health disparities for older adults as we approach the next century. She currently serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Geriatric Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, VA focusing on Alzheimer’s research and holds appointments as adjunct professor at Old Dominion University School of Nursing in Norfolk, VA, and Norfolk State University School of Nursing.

From August 2019 until January 2023, she served as an associate professor at Hampton University’s School of Nursing and Inaugural Director for the Center for Gerontology Excellence and Minority Aging. She holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from Ursuline College Breen School of Nursing in Cleveland, OH, a Master of Science degree in Nursing from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, GA, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Ursuline College Breen School of Nursing. She is a Victor W. Marshall Fellow in Applied Gerontology conferred by the Southern Gerontological Society. She has practiced nursing for over 40 years to include clinical and administrative positions and am a proud veteran having served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps on active and reserve duty; retiring at the rank of lieutenant colonel.

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Dr. Abby J. Schwartz, MGS, MSW

SGS President-Elect

Abby Schwartz is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work. She also serves as the Director of the BSW Program and Coordinator of the Gerontology Program (minor and certificate). Schwartz is passionate about quality of life for older adults and families, and how social determinants of health and cumulative disadvantage impact individuals’ aging process and experiences. Her research agenda focuses on health disparities and increasing access to healthcare for communities in our region to improve health and human services outcomes. Integral to her externally funded grants is the inclusion of colleagues from various disciplines, and the development of robust academic-community partnerships that also bring in community leaders and citizens to achieve impactful change.

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Jennifer de la Cruz, MMSc, PA-C

SGS Secretary

Prof. Jennifer de la Cruz is Interim Chair of the Department of Physician Assistant Studies and Clinical Associate Professor. She joined Mercer University in 2017. Prof. de la Cruz earned her BA in Biology from Agnes Scott College where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, and her Master of Medical Science (Physician Assistant) degree from Emory University. She has been a nationally certified and clinically practicing physician assistant for 20 years practicing in settings ranging from emergency medicine to family practice and geriatrics. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Medical Directors Association. Prof. de la Cruz’s research interests include health equity, improving geriatric care, and healthcare access.

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Sandi Lane, Ph.D.

SGS Treasurer

Dr. Lane is an Associate Professor, MHA Program Director, an ACHE Fellow, and a licensed nursing home administrator. Her operational experience includes acute care, long-term care, and ancillary services. She is an active member of the Southern Gerontological Society and reviewer for the National Association of Long-Term Care Administrator Boards. Dr. Lane has published in Health Care Management and Review, the Gerontologist, Natural Hazards, International Journal of Disaster and Risk Reduction, Journal of Applied Gerontology, and Science of the Total Environment. Her interests' center around the impact of policy, health system structure, management processes, and financing on quality of care for older adults.

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Lee Ann Ferguson, Ph.D.

SGS Treasurer-Elect

Lee Ann Steffen Ferguson, Ph.D. is the Director of Graduate Programs and a Clinical Assistant Professor. She holds a Ph.D. in leadership and gerontology from Concordia University, Chicago. Her dissertation—Examining the Socio-Environmental Influences on Aging Among Bonacca Cay’s Island Community of Guanaja, Honduras: A Focused Ethnography—illustrates Dr. Ferguson’s lens as an Environmental and Geographical Gerontologist and her special interest in conducting research and helping to shape aging policy within Central American and the Caribbean. Dr. Ferguson also holds an M.A. degree in Gerontology, a graduate certificate from UNC Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health, and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of South Florida. She is the former executive director of the Southern Gerontological Society whose membership and programming spans the Southern region of the U.S. Throughout her tenure, Dr. Ferguson also maintained adjunct and visiting professor appointments at Lenoir Rhyne University, Caldwell Community College, and Appalachian State University. Dr. Ferguson actively volunteers in her community in Taylorsville, NC as a program manager and trainer of the Alexander County Community Emergency Response Team.

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Leland "Bert" Waters, Ph.D.

SGS Immediate Past President

Dr. Waters is the Associate Director of the Virginia Center on Aging and is Director of the Virginia Geriatric Education Center, a consortium of five Virginia universities. He is the Principal Investigator for Virginia’s Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP). He serves as Administrator for the statewide Geriatric Training and Education initiative at the Virginia Center on Aging. He is also the Co-Principal Investigator for the Virginia Long-Term Care Facility Network, a project funded by the Virginia Department of Health to establish a peer clinician network and associated website of free information which will establish a monthly forum through which clinical issues in long-term care medicine can be discussed among peers.

Dr. Waters' recent research interests include geriatric workforce development, social determinants of health, and long-term care. Dr. Waters has served on numerous Boards and Executive Committees over the years in the public and nonprofit sectors. He has contributed in a leadership role for several regional and statewide aging advocacy coalitions. He currently serves as President of the Southern Gerontological Society, and Treasurer and Executive Committee Member for the National Association for Geriatric Education. Dr. Waters received a Ph.D. in Health Related Sciences at VCU's College of Health Professions with an emphasis in Gerontology. He has an Affiliate Appointment in the Department of Gerontology and has a BS in Economics and an MS in Gerontology with a concentration in Public Administration.

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Graham Rowles & Jodi Teitelman

SGS Co-Encore Representatives to the Board

Dr. Graham D. Rowles is Professor Emeritus at the University of Kentucky. He received his Ph.D. in Geography from Clark University in 1976 and has held faculty appointments at West Virginia University and the University of Kentucky where he was founding director of the Graduate Center for Gerontology. His research focuses on the lived experience of aging and the meaning of place in different contexts. He has conducted in-depth ethnographic research with elderly populations in urban (inner city), rural (Appalachian), and nursing facility environments. His applied research has included leadership of the Kentucky Elder Readiness Initiative (KERI), a statewide project to explore the implications for communities of the aging of the Baby Boom cohort. His publications include Prisoners of Space? Exploring the Environmental Experience of Older Adults, seven co-edited volumes, and more than 100 book chapters and articles. A past President of the Southern Gerontological Society and the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education, he is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Applied Gerontology and the Journal of Aging and Environment.

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Jodi Teitelman is currently a retired Professor Emerita of the Departments of Occupational Therapy and Gerontology at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Richmond, VA. Since 2020, she has served as a Plenary Member of the Geriatric Workforce Education and Preparation project at VCU’s Virginia Center on Aging/Geriatric Education Center. Prior to these positions, she worked on a contract basis with the (then-named) Virginia Department for the Aging and Virginia Department of Human Services. Jodi earned her doctorate in psychology and a post-baccalaureate Certificate from Aging studies at VCU in 1985. Since that time, her research and service interests have been focused on family caregivers of persons with dementia, including 10 years as an Alzheimer’s Association Board Member and support group co-facilitator. She has been an active and engaged member of SGS since the early 1980’s, presenting regularly at the annual conference and receiving a Gerontologists Rooted in the South (GRITS) award in 2020.

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Alfred Boakye, MA, MPhil, BA

SGS Student Representative

With a passion for increasing the health and well-being of older adults through the direct care workforce in residential care units, Alfred Boakye is training to become a Gerontologist. As a PhD student in Gerontology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore & University of Maryland, Baltimore County, his research is focused on minority Direct Care Workers (DCWs) who are Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color (BIPOC) providing care to People Living with Dementia (PLWD). Alfred has a growing thirst to improve the culture of long-term care institutions and to support building a resilient direct care workforce, which translates into his key research interests: trauma and resilience, social support, organizational culture and equity, caregiving, religious coping, and long-term care. His current research focused on “Trauma and resilience among direct care workers in Nursing Homes: Coping through COVID-19.” With this, he hopes to contribute to long-term care research, policy, and practice. He is also a recipient of several awards, including the Gerontology Institute Scholarships and Travel Awards (Georgia State University), the SGS Student Travel Award (2022 & 2023 Annual Conference), the Virginia M. Smyth Graduate Student Scholarship (Georgia Gerontology Society), and the Black in Gerontology and Geriatrics (BIGG) Travel Award in 2022 & 2023. He has two publications and several conference presentations to his credit. Through his Ph.D. in Gerontology, he hopes to live his dream as a Professor and Consultant in the aging field.

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SGS Student Representative-Elect

Open Position

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Debra Dobbs, Ph.D.

Journal of Applied Gerontology Editor-in-Chief

University of South Florida

Dr. Dobbs is an Associate Professor in the School of Aging Studies and the Academic Director of the Center for Hospice, Palliative Care and End-of-Life Studies at the University of South Florida. She previously served as the Associate Editor of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine (GGM). She serves as Vice Chair of Gerontological Society of America, Social Research, Policy and Practice Section. Dr. Dobbs has research interests in palliative, hospice and end-of-life care, and palliative care education in assisted living with a specific focus on providers of persons living with dementia. Dr. Dobbs is also involved in disaster preparedness research and music and mindfulness studies in assisted living and other community-based settings for persons living with dementia and their caregivers.

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