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Graham D. Rowles
Graham D. Rowles, an avid shower singer, is professor of gerontology (emeritus) and was founding director of the Graduate Center for Gerontology at the University of Kentucky. An environmental gerontologist, his research focuses on the lived experience of older adults, including the accommodation of older performers to their ageing. A central theme of this work is exploration, employing qualitative methodologies, of the changing relationship between older adults and their environments and implications of this relationship for health, well-being and environmental design. He has conducted in-depth ethnographic research with elderly populations in inner-city, rural (Appalachian) and nursing facility environments. Recent research has focused on long-term care and the meaning of place in old age. His publications include Prisoners of Space? Exploring the Geographical Experience of Older People (1978) published by Westview Press, seven co-edited books, and numerous articles and book chapters. A fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education, Dr. Rowles has served as President of the Southern Gerontological Society and the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education.