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Rose Dobrof, DSW  

Rose Dobrof is Brookdale Professor of Gerontology at Hunter College of the City University of New York.

In 1975 she became Founding Director of Hunter's Brookdale Center on Aging, a position she relinquished in 1994. She also served as the Co-Director, with Robert N. Butler, M.D., of the Hunter College/Mount Sinai School of Medicine Geriatric Education Center. Since 1979, Professor Dobrof has been Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Gerontological Social Work. In 1985 Professor Dobrof became a Senior Fellow of the Brookdale Foundation. During the academic year 1992-93 Professor Dobrof served as Acting Vice President of Hunter College, .

A graduate of the University of Colorado, Professor Dobrof earned her M.S.W. degree from the University of Pittsburgh and her Doctorate in Social Welfare from the Columbia University School of Social Work.

During the past three decades, Professor Dobrof has become a nationally renowned expert in the field of aging, and has helped make the Brookdale Center a leading research, education and clinical center. She was elected a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America in 1979. In that same year she was selected as one of the Five Outstanding Alumni of the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work, and in 1981 was the recipient of the School's Alumni Award for Excellence in Social Work Education. She was included in the first edition of Who's Who of Women in Education, and was voted one of the Outstanding Educators of American in 1972. She has been included in Who's Who in America since 1996.

In 1986, Dr. Dobrof received the Robert Parks Award given by St. Margaret's House in New York. Other awards include the Alice Brophy Award, given in recognition of her services to older people by the Burden Center in 1987, the Gift of Life Award for her contributions to understanding of aging given by the parker Jewish Geriatric Institute and the Walter M. Beattle Award for Distinguished Service in Aging by the New York State Association of Gerontological Educators, both in 1989. The New York Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers gave Dr. Dobrof its 1990 Social Worker in Aging Award, and in 1995 she received The Elinor Guggenheimer Award for Excellence in Aging from the New York Council of Senior Centers and Services. In 1997 SAGE, Senior Action in a Gay Environment, gave Professor Dobrof its Life Time Achievement Award, and in 1997 The Association for Gerontology Education in Social Work presented her with its Career Achievement Award.

Professor Dobrof is the author of a number of books and articles, and serves on many Boards of Directors and Advisory Boards. She is a Trustee of the Burden Center for the Aging and a member of the Board of the American Federation for Aging Research. In 1996 she was elected a Trustee of the New York Foundation, and in 1999 was elected Secretary of the Board of the Foundation.

Dr. Dobrof is a Fellow of the NY Academy of Medicine, and was selected as a Distinguished Practitioner and Member of the National Academy of Practice in Social Work. She was a member of the Social Work Study Group for the National Forum on Geriatric Education and Training. She was chosen by David N. Dinkins, then Mayor of New York City, as Chair person of the Commission on Aging Services, and in 1991, was appointed by Governor Cuomo to the New York State Public Health Council and also as a member of The Governor's Health Care Advisory Board. Dr. Dobrof received the President's Medal from President Paul LeClerc, Hunter College, Spring Commencement, 1991. In 1996, Dr. Dobrof received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the College of Optometry, the State University of New York.

Dr. Dobrof was appointed by President Clinton to be a member of the Policy Committee for the 1995 White House Conference on Aging, and in May, 1995, the President appointed Prof. Dobrof to membership on The Federal Council on Aging. In 1997 Dr. Dobrof was chosen to be co-chair of the US Committee for the Celebration of the United Nations Year of Older Persons 1999.

The Graduate School and University Center of The City University Of New York in May, 1997, named Dr. Dobrof Professor Emerita of the Doctoral Program in Social Welfare.

Dr. Dobrof was selected to serve on the National Advisory Council on Aging of the National Institutes of Health for a three year tenure, beginning January 1, 1999 and ending December 31, 2002, by the Honorable Donna E. Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Dr. Dobrof is married to Alfred Dobrof, now retired from his position on the staff of the National Jewish Welfare Board, and they are the parents of four daughters and the grandparents of four.

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