Draft:Aaron Guest
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Last edited by BD2412 (talk | contribs) 36 days ago. (Update) |
M. Aaron Guest | |
|---|---|
| Occupations | Social-Evironmental Public Health Gerontologist and Faculty Member |
| Title | Assistant Professor of Aging Chair, Age-Friendly University Global Network |
| Academic background | |
| Education | PhD in Gerontology
Master of Public Health Master of Social Work |
| Alma mater | University of Kentucky |
| Thesis | Social Networks, Identity, Health, And Quality Of Life Among Older Gay And Lesbian Individuals In Rural Environment (2019) |
Academic advisor | Graham D. Rowles Nancy E. Schoenberg |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Social-Environmental & Public Health Gerontologist |
Sub-discipline | Environmental Gerontology, Rural Gerontology, Age-Friendly |
| Institutions | Arizona State University |
| Website | search |
M. Aaron Guest is a socio-environmental gerontologist and assistant professor of Aging at Arizona State University where he also serves as the Chair of the Secretariat of the Age-Friendly University Global Network.
Background
[edit]Guest was born in Northeast Georgia. He was raised between Northeast Georgia and Upstate South Carolina, where he graduate from Westside High School in Anderson, South Carolina. Guest credits his upbringing in both rural and Appalachian counties as influencing his early work.
Educational Background
[edit]Guest attended the University of South Carolina, Columbia, where he obtained a Bachelors of Anthropology (Cultural) with a minor in Women's and Gender Studies in 20212. He remained at the University of South Carolina where he obtained a dual Master of Social Work and Master of Public Health and received dual-graduate certificates in Health Communication and Gerontology in 2015. In 2019, he obtained his Ph.D in Gerontology with an emphasis in social and environmental gerontology from the University of Kentucky Graduate Center for Gerontology. While at the University of Kentucky he studied under Graham Rowles and Nancy Schoenberg.
Academic Career
[edit]Early Career
[edit]His early academic career focused on the development of dementia intervention training for caregivers and the working with dual-eligible Medicare/Medicaid individuals through the South Carolina Department of Health and Environment Control within the Office for the Study of Aging at the University of South Carolina. During his doctoral studies, Guest was adjunct faculty at the University of Indiana -Purdue University Indianapolis. He then worked for some time in a community-based empowerment organization in Kentucky. He completed a fellowship with Visible Network Labs in the Summer of 2018.
Arizona State University
[edit]Dr. Guest has been at Arizona State University since 2019.
He was hired as an inaugural Assistant Professor into the Center for Innovation in Healthy and Resilient Aging in the Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation. While at Arizona State, Dr. Guest advanced his research into the social ties of well-being for older, marginalized communities. He collaborated with multiple units on campus, being named affiliates of the Design School, the Institute for Social Science Research, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and the Center on Social Dynamics and Complexity. He also serves as a Senior Sustainability Scientist within the Julia Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory.
In 2024 Guest was named a Innovation Faculty Fellow through the Difference Engine at Arizona State University. He co-leads the Faculty Colloquium of the Distinguished Innovation Fellows Program.
National Recognition
[edit]Professional Service
[edit]Guest has served as a leading voice to the field of public health and aging. He was the first student member ever elected in their own right to the Executive Board of the American Public Health Association. He was then elected as Speaker of the American Public Health Association twice. In addition to this role, he has served in other capacities, including within the Gerontological Society of America, the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education, as American Society on Aging, and the National Association of Social Workers. He served as the Treasurer of the Appalachian Studies Association from 2020-2025. He was a cofounder of the Accreditation for Gerontology Education Council, the accrediting body for gerontology, of which he has served on the Board of Governors since 2019. In addition, he has served on a host of state, regional, and national committees.
As of 2025, he serves as Editor of the AGHExchange and of the Gerontology News Educational Column. He serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Applied Gerontology and on multiple additional editorial boards.
He assumed the role of the Chair of the Secretariat for the Global Age-Friendly University Global Network based at Arizona State University, part of the Age-Friendly Ecosystem.
Contributions to Science
[edit]Guest is the leading authority on age-friendly university practices and environmental domains of age-friendly practices. He is a recognized expert on the Social Determinants of Healthy Aging, particularly as it relates to rural and underserved populations. He publishes frequently within the literature on gerontology in higher education and the gerontological workforce. He has published over 100 pieces related to these topics with over 105 presentations as of 2026.
He has been the recipient of multiple awards and honors, including the APHA Environment Member Award, being named a National Rural Health Fellow, and holding membership in Sigma Xi, Sigma Phi Omega, Phi Alpha, and Omicron Delta Kappa.