Cal J. Halvorsen, an associate professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, has received the Leadership Award from the Association for Gerontology Education in Social Work (AGESW).
The award, given by the AGESW board of directors after an internal nomination and review process, honors faculty members who demonstrate exceptional leadership in social work education and aging, recognizing those who advance the field, mentor colleagues and students, and foster innovation in gerontology education.
Halvorsen served on the AGESW board of directors from 2018 to 2020 and currently mentors doctoral students in the organization’s Pre-Dissertation Fellows Program on public and community-engaged scholarship.
Halvorsen was praised by AGESW for his “consistent, high-impact leadership within AGESW and the wider field—elevating our profession’s voice, strengthening our networks, and advancing education, research, and policy for and with older adults.”
The organization added that he “invests deeply in cultivating the next generation of gerontological social work scholars and educators. He mentors doctoral students whose work centers on aging and has contributed to teaching in aging policy and practice.”
Halvorsen received the award earlier this month at the Gerontology Society of America (GSA) 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting in Boston. On Jan. 1, Halvorsen will become vice-chair of GSA’s Social Research, Policy, and Practice section.
Also at the meeting, Halvorsen and Vanessa Fabbre, an associate professor at the Brown School, were named 2025 GSA Fellows, the society’s highest membership class. Nancy Morrow-Howell, the Betty Bofinger Brown Distinguished Professor of Social Policy, received the Barbara J. Berkman Award for outstanding interdisciplinary research, practice, or policy in aging and health care.
The Brown School’s impact at the Annual Scientific Meeting was wide-reaching. In addition to the presence and recognition of Halvorsen, Fabbre, and Morrow-Howell, the conference also featured the research of doctoral students Jihye Baek, Christi Lero, Aaron Li, Soobin Park, and Byeongju Ryu, as well as Yung Chun, a research assistant professor.
Brown School PhD alumni also earned several prestigious awards and fellowships: Ernest Gonzales, a 2013 PhD graduate and now the James Weldon Johnson Professor at the NYU Silver School of Social Work, received the Elaine M. Brody Thought Leader Award. Roger Wong, a 2020 PhD graduate and now an assistant professor at the SUNY Upstate Medical Center, received the Carroll L. Estes Rising Star Award – the same honor Halvorsen received in 2020. Jennifer Greenfield, a 2013 PhD graduate and now an associate professor at the University of Denver, was also named a 2025 GSA Fellow.