Tina M. Newsham

Tina Newsham completed her Ph.D. in Gerontology at the University of Kentucky in 2011. She has been a professor of gerontology and the gerontology program director at UNCW since 2020. She has taught a variety of aging-related undergraduate and graduate courses including Aging and Society, Cultural Representations of Aging, and Research Methods. She frequently employs community-engaged pedagogy in her teaching, contributing to an annual Integenerational Design Challeng and developing a Sages & Scholars mentoring program to foster connections between students and older community members.

Along with her teaching, Dr. Newsham is active in several research projects, often integrating arts and creativity into her efforts. Her work includes several community-based research projects related to lifelong health and well-being, primarily in low-resource areas, and she has won multiple state and national awards for her community-engaged work. She has been a member of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) since 2007 and has been active in committee work with GSA and its educational arm, the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE), for many years, including serving as the AGHE executive leadership team from 2022-2025. Dr. Newsham serves on the editorial board of Gerontology & Geriatrics Education and the Journal of Intergenerational Relationships and as an associate editor for the AGHExchange. Dr. Newsham is passionate about promoting health and well-being for all and views access to resources and appropriate use of finite resources as a human rights issue.

Education

Ph.D. in Gerontology, University of Kentucky.

Research Interests

Integrating gerontology content in prek-12th grade education; cultural representations of aging; community engagement; age-friendly communities