Harvey Sterns, PhD

Harvey L. Sterns, PhD, is professor emeritus of psychology and director and senior fellow of the Institute for Life-Span Development and Gerontology at The University

of Akron. He is research professor of gerontology in Family and Community Medicine at the Northeast Ohio Medical University. He has been a faculty member in both the Psychology of Adult Development and Aging and Industrial/Organizational Psychology graduate programs, and chaired the specialization in Industrial Gerontological Psychology.  

 Sterns received his AB in biology and psychology from Bard College (1965), his MA in experimental psychology from State University of New York at Buffalo (1968) and his PhD in life-span developmental psychology from West Virginia University (1971) with additional training in gerontology at the University of Southern California and Pennsylvania State University.

He is a leading authority on business and aging, and the psychology of adult development and work and cognitive intervention . For over four decades he has addressed issues related to training and retraining, career development, retirement and age discrimination in the workplace. He served as Co-Chair of the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education Committee on Business and Aging, and served as Chair, Task Force on Accreditation, and Member of the Executive Committee of the Association for Gerontology and Higher Education. He is currently President of the Board of Governors, Accreditation for Gerontology Education Council

 He has published extensively on cognitive intervention, work and retirement, career development, training and retraining, and self-management of career and retirement. He

is a licensed psychologist in Ohio and is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, American Psychological Association, Association for Psychological Science, and Association for Gerontology in Higher Education. He has served as president of Division 20 Adult Development and Aging of the American Psychological Association, Association for Gerontology in Higher Education, and Sigma Phi Omega National Academic and Professional Society in Gerontology. He is a past board of trustee member of the American Society on Aging. He has served or serves on the editorial boards of International Journal of Aging and Human Development, Gerontology and Geriatric Education, Developmental Psychology, Psychology of Aging, Experimental Aging Research, The Gerontologist, Research on Aging, and Women and Aging. In Akron,, he currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors,, Direction Home Akron Canton Area Agency on Aging and Disabilities, and Chair of the City of Akron Senior Citizen Commission to the Mayor and City Council and has served as President of Jewish Family Services and Chair, Board of Trustees, Mature Services, Inc. (now Vantage Aging).

He is the author of over 100 journal articles and book chapters. He has co-edited three books related to gerontology and geriatric education.