SCOSA Leadership

David C. Burdick, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Director

Christine Ferri, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology,

Gina Maguire, MSW, LSW, Professional Services Specialist: Coordinator of SCOSA Older Adult Programs

Karen Rose, Ph.D., Temporary Employment Specialist (TES): Age Friendly University Champion

Michaelle Cooke, BS, MBA, Temporary Employment Specialist (TES): Stockton Institute for Lifelong Learning and SCOSA generalist

Patricia W. Collins, MA/OM, SCOSA Community Engagement Liaison

Christine Gayda-Chelder, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology, Education and Service Chair

Lisa Cox, Ph.D., Professor of Social Work, Interim Assistant Director
A Community Advisory Board has assisted in planning and operating the Center in various
ways since its inception. While the formal board has been inactive in recent years,
individual members continue to assist. Our board structure, function, and membership
is evolving in Spring 2022. A new Advisory Council currently includes a core of gerontologically
engaged faculty and staff. It will be expanded to include one or more campus leaders
and several community leaders.
The Advisory Board included:
- Frank Blee, former Director of Senior Services, current Director of Government Relations
- Pastor David Delaney, St. Paul's United Methodist Church (Thorofare, NJ)
- John Emge, Former Vice President and Regional Executive Director
- Marilu Gagnon, Director (Retired)
- Lori Heberley, President
- Joanne Kinsey, Associate Professor, Family & Community Health Sciences Educator, Rutgers University Cooperative Extension of Atlantic & Ocean Counties (Mays Landing)
- Joanne Leichte, Director of Customer Relations, Medical Center (Manahawkin)
- Elyse Perweiler, Associate Professor, Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine; Director, NJ Area Health Education Center & Associate Director for Planning, Development & Public Policy
SCOSA joins Stockton’s Gerontology Program in honoring and thanking faculty retirees who have supported gerontological education, Stockton’s gerontology program and the establishment of SCOSA. Linda Aaronson (Professor Emerita of Nursing) and Nancy Davis (Professor Emerita of Pathology, former Dean of Professional Studies, now member of the Stockton Board of Trustees) both began teaching Introduction to Gerontology and Aging and Health in the mid-1980s and continued for nearly 20 years until teaching and administrative needs in Nursing forced them to curtail their GERO teaching. William Jaynes (Professor Emeritus of Social Work and African American Studies and former Acting Dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences) taught Aging and the Family for over 20 years, and the late Ralph Werner (Associate Professor of Biology) who taught Biology of Aging for nearly a decade.

Amanda Maurer, SCOSA Undergraduate Intern

Nicole White, SCOSA Undergraduate Intern
SCOSA currently has no student fellows.