In her two decades of research and scholarship on older Americans, Madonna Harrington Meyer has consistently challenged negative connotations about old age.

“There are these enduring ideas that old age is always bleak,” says Harrington Meyer, professor of sociology and a Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence. “For some people, it is difficult. For others, though, it is a time in which they enjoy a tremendous quality of life.”

Harrington Meyer has found through her research that quality of life is shaped by a number of influences, such as education; employment; involvement in civic, volunteer, and social activities; connections to family; and living an active and healthy lifestyle. “Being engaged in fulfilling activities has a significant positive impact on the physical, social, and emotional well-being of older persons,” she says.

As director of the Maxwell-based all-University Gerontology Center for four years, Harrington Meyer developed the concept of “engAGEment” (a treatment of the word she has trademarked). EngAGEment lends the center a distinct focus and connects research performed by the center’s more than 30 faculty affiliates. The center fosters cross-University collaboration on gerontology research, education, and policy, and administers a certificate in gerontology to undergraduate and graduate students. During Harrington Meyer’s tenure as director, the center has undertaken projects exploring the outcomes of active engagement and the barriers that can prohibit active engagement.

At the conclusion of this academic year, Harrington Meyer stepped down from the center’s directorship (succeeded by Janet Wilmoth, associate professor of sociology and a senior research associate in the Center for Policy Research). Harrington Meyer is now focusing on another program that fully integrates the engAGEment concept: the Lifelong Learning Institute. LLI is a three-week program for persons aged 50 and older that balances education with community engagement. The inaugural LLI ran from late May and into early June of this year, offering 10 courses that span a spectrum of interests—from the 2008 presidential election to food’s role in shaping families and communities. Each course includes a community service component. “I was not going to do a program that did not have a community service component. We wanted lasting effects beyond the classroom,” says Harrington Meyer, who has been developing the LLI concept for five years.

In the LLI program, students bring life experiences to use as a tool for engagement and a way to give back. “These class participants are people with life experience, education, and expertise. Across the board, we hope to make use of all their connections and experience for the betterment of our community,” Harrington Meyer says.

The other major focus of Harrington Meyer’s scholarship is the inequality social welfare systems breed for some segments of the population, especially elderly women. Along with Pamela Herd ’02 Ph.D. (Soc.), assistant professor of public affairs and sociology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, she authored Market Friendly or Family Friendly? The State of Old Age Inequality (Russell Sage). The book dispels the myth that the financial picture for older Americans has improved across the board. “A tremendous imbalance remains,” says Harrington Meyer. “There are still pockets of elderly, particularly single black women, for which the poverty rate remains very high.”

Harrington Meyer and Herd argue that the privatization of Social Security and Medicare would result in tremendous inequality. The best option, they say, would be strengthening existing programs to make them more responsive. “With this book, we wanted to bring older women back to the center of these discussions,” says Harrington Meyer.

While her scholarship focuses on the elderly, Harrington Meyer also works to benefit students of younger generations. As a 2007 Meredith Professor, Harrington Meyer leads graduate students in her quantitative methods class in the application of surveys within local schools, aimed at helping administrators better serve their students. “These surveys provide a great opportunity for our graduate students to develop their skills, and the results of the surveys are of practical use to local school officials,” she says.

“Syracuse University, and the Maxwell School in particular,” she says, “encourage links between scholarship and the community that are useful to faculty and students alike. I’m pleased to be at a place that fosters this sort of engagement.” There’s her favorite word again!