Charles Stelle named Gerontology Educator of the Year

BOWLING GREEN, O.—Dr. Charles Stelle, an associate professor in the gerontology program at Bowling Green State University, was named Educator of the Year for 2014 by the Ohio Association of Gerontology and Education (OAGE). Stelle was presented the award at the recent 38th annual OAGE conference in Dayton.

Two BGSU students also were honored at the conference. Morgan Bunting, a senior from Pioneer, had the best undergraduate paper, and Lauren Feyh, a senior from Lewis Center, was named the Outstanding Gerontology Student for 2014.

The OAGE Educator Award recognizes individuals in Ohio's educational institutions who have advanced gerontological education and training for students and practitioners and have used educational programs to improve services to older adults in Ohio. It is one of the highest honors for gerontology educators in Ohio and has been awarded since 1979.

Stelle teaches at the undergraduate introductory level to the advanced graduate level.

He is an active and visible partner in the field of aging and is instrumental in advocating for gerontology education for his students. His students have noted that he has a passion for community engagement and older adults, and he brings that passion into the classroom. He is also an exceptional service-learning faculty member who has demonstrated great dedication to infusing a community-based learning component into his courses.

A strong advocate at the local level, Stelle is on the Public Policy Committee of the Alzheimer’s Association of Northwest Ohio, is a board member of WSOS Community Action Partnership, and a board member and chair of the Program Planning and Evaluation Committee for the Wood County Committee on Aging.

At the national level, he is a member of the Gerontological Society of America and past member of the National Council on Family Relations and the American Psychological Association.

He is equally engaged at the university level, as a faculty affiliate with the Center for Family and Demographic Research and member of the Service Learning Faculty Learning Community. He has previously been a member of the Teaching Diversity Learning Community and the New Faculty Teaching and Writing Learning Community.

Amidst all this service to the community and professional organizations, Stelle is regarded as a scholar. He has co-authored and/or edited 11 articles and has made 30 national and international referred presentations. He is well respected by gerontology educators in Ohio and appreciated by his students for his level of focus and challenge. He has contributed significantly to the knowledge and critical reflection of his students on and off campus, his award presenters said.