Nancy Morrow-Howell has been on the faculty at the Brown School since 1987 and was named the Ralph and Muriel Pumphrey Professor of Social Work in 2003. She was recently appointed Director of the Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging at Washington University.
Dr. Morrow-Howell is a national leader in gerontology, widely known for her work on productive and civic engagement of older adults. She is editor of the book Productive Aging, published by Johns Hopkins University Press. With support from the Metlife Foundation, The Atlantic Philanthropies, and the National Institute on Aging, she explores strategies to maximize the engagement of older adults in productive roles. She advises the Gerontological Society of America and the American Society on Aging on these topics.
Her research has contributed to understanding about the institutional arrangements that might maximize the productive engagement of the older population. Her research has documented outcomes for individual, families, and communities associated with expanding work, volunteering, civic service, and care giving by older adults. Her work has received international attention as societies across the globe are responding to population aging.
At the Brown School, she teaches gerontology courses as well as research methods. She has held many leadership positions, including directing the Master’s gerontology curriculum and chairing the PhD program. At Washington University, she is the McDonnell International Scholars Academy Ambassador to the University of Hong Kong.
Dr. Morrow-Howell is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA), past chair of the Social Research, Policy, and Program (SRPP) section of the GSA, past-vice president of the Association for Gerontological Education in Social Work (AGE-SW), and actively involved with the John A. Hartford Geriatric Social Work Initiative. She has served as editor of the Practice Concepts section of The Gerontologist under two different editorships; and she is on the Editorial Board of several top journals in gerontology. She received both the Washington University Distinguished Faculty Award and the Brown School’s Outstanding Faculty Award. In 2008 and 2011, she was given the Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award by Washington University. She was the recipient of the 2011 Career Achievement Award from the Association for Gerontology Education in Social Work.