Lyn M. Holley
- Dr. Chuck Powell Professorship in Gerontology
- Gerontology
General Information
Additional Contact Information
The web site of the UNO Department of Gerontology /Faculty.Contact information (including cell phone number) is posted on every syllabus.
Biography
Lyn Meridew Holley, PhD is the inaugural and current Dr. Chuck Powell Professor in the Department of Gerontology at UNO, the inaugural (2015) UNO Service Learning Academy Faculty Fellow, and has served twice as Vice President of the UNO Faculty Senate. She teaches gerontology, the study of older adults and aging. All her classes are highly interactive and most give students the opportunity to apply what they learn through service to the community and their profession. A member of the UNO Thompson Learning Community, Graduate Faculty, Native American Studies Faculty (Executive Council) , Honors Faculty, and Medical Humanities Faculties. She has received awards for teaching excellence that include the 2009 UNO Alumni Association Teacher of the Year Award, the 2010 UNO Faculty Service Learning Award and nomination for the 2014 OTICA. Dr. Holley's research helps improve services for elders - in general and for minority elders, and helps improve intergenerational relationships. She has published articles in several journals, including "The Gerontologist," "Educational Gerontology," "Gerontology and Geriatrics Education", "Quality in Ageing and Older Adults" and "Public Performance Management Review". Author of chapters in two authoritative Handbooks (Handbook of Rural Ageing, Routledge, 2021, and "Ethics and Integrity in Research with Older People and Service Users - AREI Volume 9" which is in press, 2023).Lyn earned her B.A. in Psychology from American University (1964). After working in Federal (including service in the US Army Reserve) and International public service (in the United Nations International Civil Service Commission) , she earned an M.P.A. (UNO, 1995) and Ph.D. (UNO, 1999). Following gerontology research at the University of Kansas and University Wisconsin-Milwaukee, she joined UNO's gerontology faculty in 2004. She has been active in the community and in her profession and acknowledged as a Fellow of the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education (FAGHE) and serves on the boards of local public service nonprofit organizations, Midwest Geriatrics/ Florence Home, and Nebraska Urban Indian Health Coalition, as well as engaging local K-12 students (Global Aging), and community elders (Working with Minority Elders in service learning..
Teaching Interests
Experiential/ discovery learningLearning through Community Based ResearchCommunity Engaged Service LearningGlobal, Lifelong Curriculum DevelopmentMidwifery in service of the Artificial Intelligence Revolution and Lifelong Education
Research Interests
Public programs and services in re agingIntergenerational Relationships and AgeismLifespan resilience, especially life long learning and the global Age-Friendly Environments movement - working with Div Multidisciplinary Studies on developing a vision for a changed societal structure and process that can deliver individualized, Artificial Intelligence supported life long learning.Aging in re Ethnicity and IdentityLong-term Care staffing policies and programs
Service Summary
Technical assistance and advice to Nebraska state unit on aging and in Omaha metro area to Area Agencies on Aging, Local businesses, and nonprofit and advocacy organizations. Memberships on Boards of elder-serving nonprofits. Initiation, development and maintenance of town-gown partnerships that carry out activities to bridge the generation gap, e.g., the UNO Food for Thought Program Athletes and Elders Program, and the Intergenerational Poetry Contest. Serves on the UNO-Community Planning Committee that produces the biennial Aging with Passion and Purpose Conference to counter Ageism.Serve the profession through publishing research in professional journals and participating in professional conferences, and as an interest group Co-Convenor in the leading national association for gerontology research Gerontological Association of America).. Faculty Co-Advisor of the UNO Chapter of Sigma Phi Omega the national academic honor society for gerontology.Served the university of Nebraska at Omaha and my college as a member of the Faculty Senate and other campus governance organizations, and extensive service on working committees - as member or Chair of College and Department Personnel, UCAT, College and Department Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access committees. Note during the COVID Summer Lyn served on the college "Fall Prep Student-Faculty Committee to Advise then-Chancellor Sasha Kopp. On my own initiative, I am helping students to find constructive ways to use ChatGPT as a tool that supports and enhances their own original work.
Education
Ph D, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska, Public Administration, Public Management, 1999
Professional Development
Community of Practice: Engagement, UNO Service Learning Academy Faculty Fellows Leaders Forum, 01/01/2020