Jon Pynoos

Jon Pynoos is the UPS Foundation Professor of Gerontology, Policy, Planning and Development at the Andrus Gerontology Center of the University of Southern California. He is also Director of the National Resource Center on Supportive Housing and Home Modification, and Co-Director of the Fall Prevention Center of Excellence, which is funded by the Archstone Foundation.

Dr. Pynoos has spent his career researching, writing, and advising the government and private sector concerning how to improve housing and long-term care policies and programs for the elderly. He has conducted a large number of applied research projects based on surveys and case studies of housing, aging in place and long-term care.

He has written and edited six books on housing and the elderly, including Linking Housing and Services for Older Adults: Obstacles, Options, and Opportunities; Housing the Aged: Design Directives and Policy Considerations; and Housing Frail Elders: International Policies, Perspectives and Prospects.

Dr. Pynoos was a delegate to the last three White House Conferences on Aging and is currently a member of the City of Los Angeles Task Force on Aging and the California Commission on Aging. He is also on the Board of the American Society on Aging. He served as Vice President of the Gerontological Society of America. He is a founding member of the National Home Modification Action Coalition.

Dr. Pynoos has been awarded both Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships. Before moving to USC in 1979, Dr. Pynoos was Director of an Area Agency on Aging/Home Care Corporation in Massachusetts that provided a range of services to keep older persons out of institutional settings. He holds undergraduate, Master’s and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University, where he graduated Magna cum Laude.

The UPS Professorship

In 1982, the UPS Foundation, a philanthropic program of the United Parcel Service, created two professorships at USC, one in law and one in gerontology, from an endowment it had created in the early 1970s to support research in justice and aging. The professorship in gerontology is designed for scholars who conduct research in policy issues related to aging. In 1987, it was awarded to Dr. Pynoos, making him the second faculty member to hold the professorship.