Nan Campbell retired in 2003 as the Director of Social Services in Alexander County. She represented county departments of social services on the Institute of Medicine’s Long Term Care Task Force and is the past president of the NC Association of County Directors of Social Services. Locally, Nan has served as the co-facilitator for the Alzheimer’s support group and operated a weekday respite program for Alzheimer’s patients through a grand funded by the Brookdale Foundation. In her role as senior leader, Nan is working with the ministerial association in Alexander County to develop collectively a broad strategic plan in the area of aging services and how the faith community can respond to identified needs. Since her retirement Nan has served as the interim executive director of the hospice program while a search for a permanent director is being conducted. This has taken a great deal of her time and she looks forward to a time when she might be able to have a more traditional retirement.
Dorothy Gagnier retired from the Veterans Administration in 2002 where she served as Assistant Director for Education at the National Center for Health Promotion, at the VA Medical Center in Durham. Dorothy has a Ph.D. in Adult/Continuing Education with an emphasis in Gerontology. In her role with the VA, Dorothy prepared education materials and programs targeted at veterans and providers of health care. She worked in close collaboration with the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC) Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, and a variety of state agencies with roles in aging. Since her retirement, Dorothy has been involved in Clinical Pastoral Education at the Duke University Medical Center and at Alamance Regional Hospital. The focus of her senior leadership program has been in the provision of pastoral care in long term care settings. She also serves on the adult care home community advisory committee in Durham County.
Thomas Jones retired from both the United States Air Force and the US Postal Service. He is active in the Fayetteville Community as chair of the Cumberland County Adult Care Home Advisory Committee and through his church in a project to start an Adult Day Care Center. He was appointed as a board member of Friends of Residents in Long Term Care in 2004 where he serves on the Education and Outreach Committee. The focus of Thomas’s senior leader project has been to examine what can be done to stop crime against senior citizens in Cumberland County. This study has resulted in the development of a pamphlet, “Fraud and Crime Prevention: A Guide for Senior Citizens and Persons with Disabilities.” This guide has been reviewed by the state’s Consumer Fraud Task Force and has been well received. Copies of the guide can be requested through the Institute and will be provided to the extent copies remain available.
Charles King retired from the United States Army and then spent a number of years in different business operations. He has more recently been an organizational design and development consultant. In that capacity, he has done contract work with Wake County Human Services related to the redesign of their human services programs. He has been appointed to the Board of Directors for Wake County Human Services where he serves on the Committee on Aging. Charles has been integrally involved in the development of the Wake County Aging Plan and will be serving on the GOLD Coalition (Growing Older, Living with Dignity). This group is appointed by the county commissioners to oversee implementation of the aging plan. Charles has also been selected by AARP-NC to chair their African-American Outreach Initiative. Charles’s senior leadership project has been involved in the development of resource book “Healthy Aging Through Life Long Learning” which will be made available via the Internet. Watch for the announcement of this resource book’s availability on the Institute’s website.
Richard von Stamwitz has focused on addressing ageism in our society—the negative stereotyping of getting older—as one of the primary developmental challenges across the life span. As such he also wants to redefine what retirement is all about. Dick is definitely an endorser of the activity theory of aging rather than disengagement. He is a nationally certified gerontological counselor and a licensed professional counselor in the state of North Carolina. Dick is both a consultant and a speaker and addresses a wide range of topics with a variety of groups generally around issues associated with aging well. In his senior leadership project, Dick has worked with the cooperative extension services, the faith community, and a variety of senior programs to influence content about aging well and changing widely held assumptions about the nature of retirement. Dick identifies his personal mission “to provide educational, counseling and consultation services on behalf of individuals and delivery systems, focusing on the psychosocial challenges of lter life, including, but not limited to: retirement transition, creative aging and leisure management, wellness, assisted living, volunteerism and spirituality.”
Edgar Thompson retired from the United States Air Force, but remains active in a wide range of paid and volunteer activities. He is an active AARP volunteer Health and Life Answer Specialist. He also works half time for Wake Technical College doing testing and counseling for students working on their GEDs. His focus in the Senior Leadership Initiative has been to increase awareness in the medical community related to end of life issues. He’s worked through the state AARP office in their end of life campaign and has become certified in the Powerful Tools Training Curriculum and has participated as an instructor for caregivers. He became a member of the consumer advisory board for Medical Review of North Carolina, joined the Wake County Partnership for End of Life Care, and has presented results from the AARP Survey about end of life issues to a variety of professional, church, and citizen groups. Ed remains active as an AARP volunteer.
