•
Biddeford, Maine

UNE’s Marilyn Gugliucci installed as president of The Gerontological Society of America

Portrait of Marilyn Gugliucci against trees on the Biddeford Campus
Marilyn R. Gugliucci, M.A., Ph.D., professor and director of geriatrics education and research
Read the press release
Read more on EurekAlert

Marilyn R. Gugliucci, M.A., Ph.D., professor and director of geriatrics education and research in the UNE College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Division of Geriatrics, has installed as president of The Gerontological Society of America (GSA), the nation’s largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging. 

The GSA is a multidisciplinary organization devoted to research and education in all aspects of aging, also known as gerontology, including the medical, biological, psychological, and social sciences. Gugliucci was elected to the post in late 2023 by the GSA’s membership — which consists of 6,000 researchers, educators, practitioners, and other professionals — and assumed the role of vice president in 2024.

Following a 2020 change in governance structure — for which Gugliucci served on the governance workgroup — elected GSA members serve three consecutive years in leadership positions, the last two of which include mentorship roles. 

During her one-year term as president this year, among her other duties, Gugliucci will mentor the GSA vice president. In 2026, she will become GSA board chair, where she will mentor the president. In 2027, she will begin a three-year term serving on the GSA Governance Committee.

“It is such an honor to serve as president to work with GSA’s amazing staff, dedicated Board of Directors, skilled members, and support the emerging scholars and professionals who are GSA’s future,” Gugliucci said. “GSA has been my professional home for 30-plus years. This organization offers significant opportunities to collaborate with colleagues in the U.S. and across the globe; to engage in initiatives, committees, interest groups, and governance; and to recharge one’s personal and professional ‘battery’ through the many prospects that continually advance new horizons in our field.”

In 2021, Gugliucci led a pilot project to design and implement GSA student chapters at colleges and universities nationally and internationally. As a result of this work, there are currently 20 chapters participating across the U.S. and three operating abroad. 

In July 2025, this project will be fully operational, and all U.S. and international higher education institutions will be able to create GSA student chapters to support the professional development of their students. UNE COM’s GSA Student Chapter has been in operation for three years and has attracted approximately one-third of each year’s incoming students. 

At UNE, Gugliucci is the founding director of the U-ExCEL older adult fitness and wellness program, and she is co-chair of UNE’s Age Friendly University initiatives.

Her nationally acclaimed Learning by Living research project offers both a 48-hour hospice home immersion option — in which medical students live in pairs and conduct patient care, family support, and post-mortem care — as well as a nursing home immersion whereby medical students are “admitted” with a diagnosis to live the life of a resident for two weeks.

Additionally, in 2024, Gugliucci helped lead the Division of Geriatrics within UNE COM to be awarded the GSA Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education Program of Merit designation for its robust and required geriatrics training and education. 

“Through her distinguished career accomplishments and service in many GSA leadership roles, Marilyn has been the embodiment of our Society’s interdisciplinary commitment to research, education, and practice,” GSA CEO James Appleby, B.S.Pharm., M.P.H., said in a release. “I, along with the GSA staff and Board of Directors, respect her unwavering commitment to aging issues and look forward to continuing to innovate in 2025 during her presidency.”

Gugliucci is a fellow of the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education, the Gerontological Society of America, American Geriatrics Society, and the National Academy of Osteopathic Medical Educators. Additionally, she serves on several national and state boards and committees, including as a two-time mentor for the International Honor Society of Nurses/Hartford Foundation Geriatrics Nursing Leadership Academy.

She is former member-at-large, treasurer, and president of the AGHE, former chair the GSA’s Health Sciences section, and served on the inaugural GSA board of directors. In Maine, she was a founding board member and secretary of the Maine Council on Aging and serves on three additional boards. Gugliucci is a regular speaker nationally and internationally, has authored multiple publications, and has won several state and national awards for her work.

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.