POLLINA TO HEAD INSITUTE OF GERONTOLOGY AT SEMO IN FALL

Leslee Pollina, assistant professor of psychology at Southeast Missouri State University, has been named the new director of the university's Institute of Gerontology.

"I am really excited about this appointment," Pollina said. "It's an area that I've always been interested in."

The part-time appointment is effective with the fall 1992 semester.

Southeast's Institute of Gerontology is part of the College of Health and Human Services, and is designed to advance the development and coordination of university programs concerned with aging. Its major focus is to provide direction for the development of academic programs in gerontology by enhancing teaching and research among interested faculty members, securing external funding and collaborating with community agencies.

Pollina holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Indiana University. She earned her master's degree in 1989 and her doctoral degree in 1991, both in developmental psychology from West Virginia University-Morgantown. In 1989, she also earned a graduate certificate in gerontology from the West Virginia University Gerontology Center.

Pollina came to Southeast last year from the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown where she had served as a visiting assistant professor. Prior to that, she served four years as a part-time research trainee in the National Institute of Mental Health.

Much of Pollina's research has been devoted to the aging process. Among her published works is "Bridging Paradigms: Positive Cognitive Development in Adulthood and Aging."

Pollina, who will become the institute's first permanent director, will devote a fourth of her time to the directorship, while maintaining teaching duties in the psychology department. She replaces Robert Boissoneau, dean of the College of Health and Human Services, who has been serving as the institute's acting director.

"Leslee possesses a concentrated academic perspective to gerontology," Boissoneau said. "She brings the scholarly approach to the institute that we so badly needed.

"This appointment is unique because the institute is in the College of Health and Human Services and Leslee teaches in the department of psychology in the College of Liberal Arts," Boissoneau said. This move "really is on the cutting edge of interaction as far as colleges and departments go."

Pollina said she hopes to bring a more interdisciplinary focus to activity within the institute.

"The field of gerontology is an eclectic field that draws expertise from a wide range of fields," said Martin Jones, dean of the College of Liberal Arts. "Dr. Pollina has a great degree of expertise in working with older people. Considering her background, I think she is unusually qualified for the position."

Pollina's plans for the institute call for seeking external grants and developing a student gerontology group that would provide students with both service and research opportunities.

With the projected trend toward an aging population, "there's a real need to train some people who have some expertise in gerontology," she said.

Southeast's Institute of Gerontology has evolved from the Center for Aging and Gerontology Studies in the department of human environmental studies. The department supports several programs for the elderly including the Grace V. Hoover Eldercare Center, geriatric sitters and elderhostel.