Paul Stolee, a professor in the School of Public Health Sciences, has received the 2021 Canadian Association on Gerontology (CAG) Distinguished Member Award. As the CAG’s highest honour, the distinction recognizes members who have contributed significantly to the field of gerontology and the Association itself.
Stolee’s experience in research and planning in geriatrics includes work in academic, government and community settings. As the director of the Geriatrics Health Systems Research Group, his research involves improving the integration and effectiveness of geriatric health services and systems. These areas of research include challenges experienced by older patients as they transition across care settings, strategies that promote greater care coordination and health system integration and meaningful engagement of older adults in health-care decision-making. Stolee is also the current director of Waterloo’s Network for Aging Research.
“This award has a special meaning for me because its first recipient, 40 years ago, was Professor William Forbes,” Stolee said. “Forbes, a former Dean of Mathematics and the founder of the gerontology program at Waterloo, became one of my most important mentors, and was a big reason that I came to the University of Waterloo for my PhD.”
Founded in 1971, the CAG is a national multidisciplinary scientific and educational association established to provide leadership in matters related to the aging population. Only one Distinguished Member Award is offered each year, and the 2021 award was presented to Stolee at the 50th Annual Scientific and Educational Meeting of the Canadian Association on Gerontology in late October.