Distinguished Research Scientist Award
A. Regula Herzog

Recognized as the leading expert on the application of survey research methods to the study of older populations, the late A. Regula Herzog helped to introduce the notion of productive aging to a field focused on decline and dependence in late life. Her work highlighted the positive and modifiable aspects of aging such as productive activities, volunteering and exercises to prevent incontinence.

Herzog played a pioneering and vital role in the Health and Retirement Study, which she launched in 1990, and for which she served as co-principal investigator. The longitudinal study of more than 25,000 Americans over 50 years old is the largest social science project funded by the National Institute on Aging. It is expected to be used by generations of researchers and policymakers to understand and improve the lives of older people.

A senior research scientist in the Institute for Social Research and the Institute of Gerontology, Herzog was a respected teacher and mentor. She taught by example, by accepting and giving criticism productively and by reminding students of the theoretical underpinnings of their research. Herzog maintained long-standing collaborations with researchers from a range of disciplines both in and outside the University. She published more than 100 papers in some of the most prominent journals, including Journal of Gerontology, Psychology and Aging, and Public Opinion Quarterly, and was a member of a numerous editorial boards.

Herzog served several terms on the Survey Research Center Executive Committee and the ISR Policy Committee. She participated actively in the work of the University by mentoring doctoral students and postdoctoral and teaching fellows, as well as by teaching courses in the Department of Psychology and in the ISR Summer Institute on Survey Research.

Herzog died July 28. She served on the faculty for 26 years and is remembered by colleagues and students for her integrity, judgment and collegiality, as well as for her intellectual accomplishments.