Karl Pillemer
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Karl Andrew Pillemer (born October 15, 1954) is an American sociologist and
gerontologist Gerontology ( ) is the study of the social, cultural, psychological, cognitive, and biological aspects of aging. The word was coined by Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov in 1903, from the Greek ('), meaning "old man", and ('), meaning "study of". The fi ...
who is the Hazel E. Reed Professor of Human Development at
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
, and Professor of Gerontology in Medicine at
Weill Cornell Medicine Weill Cornell Medicine (; officially Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University), originally Cornell University Medical College, is the medical school of Cornell University, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in Ne ...
. His research focuses on intergenerational relations in later life, long-term care for frail and disabled older persons, and social engagement and involvement of older persons. Pillemer is the founder of the Cornell Legacy Project, which since 2004 has collected accounts of the life wisdom of over 2,000 older Americans, and the Cornell Family Reconciliation Project, which researches family estrangement.


Early life

Pillemer was born on October 15, 1954, to Jean Burrell Pillemer and
Louis Pillemer Louis Pillemer (1908 – August 31, 1957) was an American immunologist, an early investigator of the alternative complement pathway (a system of defense not dependent upon antibodies). Biography Pillemer was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, ...
, an early pioneer in the field of
immunology Immunology is a branch of biology and medicine that covers the study of Immune system, immune systems in all Organism, organisms. Immunology charts, measures, and contextualizes the Physiology, physiological functioning of the immune system in ...
at
Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...
. After the death of his father when Pillemer was three years old, his grandmother moved in with the family; Pillemer attributes his close relationship with her as a main source of his eventual career in gerontology.


Career

Pillemer received his B.A. from
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
in 1977 and received his M.A. from
Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...
in 1980, followed by his Ph.D. from there in 1985. In his Ph.D. dissertation work he collaborated with Rosalie S. Wolf in one of the earliest large-scale studies of programs to prevent and treat
elder abuse Elder abuse (also called elder mistreatment, senior abuse, abuse in later life, abuse of older adults, abuse of older women, and abuse of older men) is a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where ...
and neglect. He moved to the
University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...
in 1985, where he trained with
Murray A. Straus Murray Arnold Straus (June 18, 1926 – May 13, 2016) was an American professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire. He is best known for creating the conflict tactics scale, the "most widely used instrument in research on family vio ...
and
David Finkelhor David Finkelhor (born 1947) is an American sociologist known for his research into child sexual abuse and related topics. He is the director of the Crimes against Children Research Center, co-director of the Family Research Laboratory and profe ...
, directing a large-scale population survey that established initial prevalence rates for the abuse and neglect of older persons. During this time, he carried out a prevalence survey of elder abuse in
nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of older people, senior citizens, or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as care homes, skilled nursing facilities (SNF), or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms ...
s that showed the high extent of this problem. Pillemer also began his career-long program of research on improving care in nursing homes, authoring five books that have been used in the nursing home industry. Pillemer moved to Cornell University in 1990, where he is a full professor. Over the past 25 years at Cornell, he has conducted empirical research and intervention studies in the area of intergenerational relations. A theoretical and empirical focus of his work has been reviving the concept of ambivalence and applying it to parent-child relations in later life.


The Legacy Project

In 2004, Pillemer described becoming discouraged with the degree to which his research focused exclusively on "the problems of older people and older people as problems." Influenced by concerns about growing
ageism Ageism, also called agism in American English, is a type of discrimination based on one's age, generally used to refer to age-based discrimination against Old age, elderly people. The term was coined in 1969 by Robert Neil Butler to describe this ...
and
age segregation Age segregation is the separation of people based on their age, and may be observed in many aspects of some societies. Examples of institutionalized age segregation include age segregation in schools, and age-segregated housing. There are studi ...
in contemporary society, he began a series of studies designed to tap the practical life wisdom of older people. Over the ensuing decade, he conducted surveys and in-depth interview studies of over 2,000 older Americans, systematically collecting their advice for living in a number of domains, including career, marriage, child-rearing, avoiding regrets, and aging well. These studies form the largest data set ever assembled of the advice of older people, and included a survey of the advice for love and marriage of 700 long-married elders. The research resulted in two popular books: ''30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans'' and ''30 Lessons for Loving: Advice from the Wisest Americans on Love, Relationships, and Marriage.'' Based on this research, Pillemer has worked internationally to promote the role of older people as sources of practical advice and encouraged both individuals and organizations to incorporate elder wisdom into daily life. The Legacy Project has been featured in multiple media.


The Cornell Family Reconciliation Project

Pillemer is the founder of th
Cornell Family Reconciliation Project
which conducted the first national survey on family estrangement. Pillemer published a book, ''Fault Lines: Fractured Families and How to Mend Them'', that details the results of this ground-breaking study and includes rich, in-depth interviews with hundreds of people who have experienced family estrangement, as well as insights from leading family researchers and therapists. The book combines the advice of family members who have successfully reconciled with powerful insights from social science research to offer a unique guide to mending families fractured by estrangement.


Personal life

Pillemer is married to Clare McMillan. They have two children, film producer Hannah Pillemer (1981) and neuropsychologist Sarah Pillemer (1987), and three grandchildren, Clare and Thomas (2016), and Mark (2022).


Bibliography

* Pillemer, Karl (2011). ''30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans''. New York: Penguin/Hudson Street Press. (Translated editions: Germany, Japan, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Turkey, Vietnam, Romania). * Pillemer, Karl (2015). ''30 Lessons for Loving: Advice from the Wisest Americans on Love, Relationships, and Marriage''. Penguin/Hudson Street Press. * Pillemer, Karl, and Kurt Luescher (Eds.) (2004). ''Intergenerational Ambivalences: New Perspectives on Parent-Child Relations in Later Life''. Stamford, CT: Elsevier/JAI Press. Volume 4 in the series ''Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research''. * Pillemer, Karl, Phyllis Moen, Elaine Wethington, Nina Glasgow (Eds.) (2000). ''Social Integration in the Second Half of Life''. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press. * Pillemer, Karl (2020). ''Fault Lines: Fractured Families and How to Mend Them''. Avery. * Wolf, Rosalie S., and Karl Pillemer (1989). ''Helping Elderly Victims: The Reality of Elder Abuse''. New York: Columbia University Press.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pillemer, Karl 1954 births Boston University alumni Brandeis University alumni Cornell University faculty American gerontologists Living people