Clark Tibbitts

{{Short description|American gerontologist (1903–1985)}} {{redirect|Tibbitts|Alice Tibbits|Private Hospital, Wakefield Street}} {{Infobox academic | honorific_prefix =  | name = | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{birth year |1985}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{death date and age|1985|10|11|1903}} | death_place = Dover, New Hampshire, US | nationality =  | occupation = | known_for = | title = | boards =  | awards =  | education = | alma_mater =  | thesis_title = | thesis_url = | thesis_year = | school_tradition = | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = | influences =  | era = 1929–1983 | discipline = Gerontology | sub_discipline = Social gerontology | workplaces = {{hlist|University of Michigan, Director of the Institute for Human Adjustment ''(1937-1949)''}} | doctoral_students =  | notable_students = | main_interests = | notable_works = | notable_ideas = | influenced =  | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = | footnotes = }} '''Clark Tibbitts''' (1903–1985) was a gerontologist who helped bring attention to the topic of aging and establish programs for aging populations in the United States. He held a variety of positions within gerontology and was an contributing author of many articles that examined aging. He has been described as "an architect of the field of gerontological education-an academic who spent most of his career in the federal government as an advocate for the development of aging education, training, and research programs in institutions of higher education."<ref name = "afghe">{{Cite web | title = Clark Tibbitts, 1903-1985 | work = Association for Gerontology in Higher Education | accessdate = 2014-05-07 | url = http://www.aghe.org/templates/System/details.asp?id=40634&PID=677636 }}</ref>

== Biography == Tibbitts was born in 1903 and died at the age of 82 in October 1985.<ref name="Associationof">{{cite web|url=http://www.aghe.org/templates/System/details.asp?id=40634&PID=677636|publisher=Association of gerontology in higher education|title=Clark Tibbits|year=2011|accessdate=27 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1985/10/19/clark-tibbitts-dies-at-82/bec112e5-9598-4458-90f8-08c01535e07e/ |first=Bart |last=Barnes |title=Clark Tibbitts Dies at 82 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=October 19, 1985 |access-date=December 27, 2022}}</ref> He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the Lewis Institute in 1924 and did graduate work at the University of Chicago.<ref name="BarbaraSagraves">{{cite web|first=Barbara|last=Sagraves|year=1988|publisher=Bentley historical library, University of Michigan.|title=Clark Tibbitts Papers|url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhlead/umich-bhl-861139?rgn=main;view=text}}</ref> He retired at age 83, after 35 years of government service. He worked as deputy director of the Office of Aging 1960–66, director of training for the Administration on Aging 1966–74, director of the National Clearinghouse on Aging 1974–76, special assistant to the Commissioner on Aging 1976–1982, both{{Which?|date=July 2023}} with roots from Tibbitts' original committee on aging.<ref name="BarbaraSagraves" />

== Career ==

Tibbitts worked at the University of Michigan's Institute for Human Adjustment, developing programs alongside Wilma T. Donahue. For several years they created courses, held conferences, and made radio programs for the public on the topic of aging.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Achenbaum |first1=W. Andrew |title=Profiles in gerontology: a biographical dictionary |last2=Albert |first2=Daniel M. |date=1995 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-29274-3 |location=Westport, Conn. |pages=103}}</ref> He worked there for 12 years before moving to Washington D.C. in 1949. He then served as specialist for aging, before any agencies were dedicated to the aging population.<ref name="BarbaraSagraves" /> He was the author of many articles and texts on gerontology and aging. He was an advocate for government resources for the aging population, at a time when the average life expectancy in the United States was growing rapidly with assistance from advances in medicine and technology.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Maddox |first=G |date=1988 |title=The future of gerontology in higher education: continuing to open the American mind about aging |journal=The Gerontologist |volume=28 |issue=6 |pages=748–752 |doi=10.1093/geront/28.6.748|pmid=3253147 }}</ref> He examined the social and psychological aspects of aging that had not been previously studied or explored because of the low life expectancy up until the mid-twentieth century.

== Accomplishments == Tibbitts was notable for his efforts to plan, organize, and convene multiple international conferences on aging for more than three decades, until the 1980s. His work encompasses more than 100 publications, including his ''Handbook of Social Gerontology: Societal Aspects of Aging'', which, for a decade, was the major used textbook on aging.<ref name = "afghe" />

== Awards ==

* 1957 – Honorary Sc. D. degree (a doctorate of science higher than a PhD), from the Institutum Divi Thomæ in Cincinnati, Ohio.<ref name="BarbaraSagraves" /> * 1981 – Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE) Award for his outstanding contribution to the study of gerontology.<ref name="BarbaraSagraves" /> * 1986 – The Clark Tibbitts Award was established in 1986 for his contributions in the development of the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education, replacing the award he won in 1981.<ref name="Associationof" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.geron.org/membership/awards/academy-for-gerontology-in-higher-education-awards?start=1 |title=AGHE Awards - Clark Tibbitts Award |work=The Gerontological Society of America}}</ref>

== Selected publications ==

* Tibbitts, Clark (1950, October). [http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v13n10/v13n10p15.pdf The conference on aging]. *{{Cite journal | last = Tibbitts | first = Clark | volume = XV | issue = 3 | pages = 339–354 | title = Social gerontology: origin, scope and trends | journal = International Social Science Journal | accessdate = 2014-05-07 | date = 1963 | url = http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0001/000173/017381eo.pdf }} * Tibbitts, C. (1967, March 11). ''[http://www.unt.edu/aging/center/hxtibbit.htm History in the making]'' *{{Cite book | edition = 7th impr. | publisher = University of Chicago Press | last = Tibbitts | first = Clark | title = Handbook of social gerontology : societal aspects of aging | location = Chicago | date = 1974 | oclc = 246225289 }} *{{cite journal |last1=Tibbitts |first1=Clark |date=February 1979 |title=Can we invalidate negative stereotypes of aging? |url=https://academic.oup.com/gerontologist/article-abstract/19/1/10/608305 |journal=The Gerontologist |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=10–20 |doi=10.1093/geront/19.1.10 |pmid=263568 |access-date=|url-access=subscription }}

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tibbitts, Clark}} Category:American gerontologists Category:1903 births Category:1985 deaths Category:Social security in the United States Category:Illinois Institute of Technology alumni Category:University of Chicago alumni Category:University of Michigan people

Clark Tibbitts

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