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Erickson School Launches Masters Degree in Aging Services
First-of-its-kind professional program training leaders in private and government sectors to meet the needs of an aging society
BALTIMORE – The Erickson School at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County is now accepting applications for the new Master of Arts in the Management of Aging Services (MAgS), a unique program specifically designed to prepare leaders for the challenges and opportunities presented by an aging society.
The inaugural class of MAgS students will be selected from a pool of applicants representing top professionals working in aging-related services, including government agencies, financial institutions and the nation’s burgeoning seniors housing and care industry. Applications can be submitted online at the new Erickson School Web site: (website will be available for preview Thursday and will go live Friday June 1).
Unlike any other graduate degree, the MAgS program weaves together disciplines in management, public policy and the study of human aging. Integrating these core disciplines combines skills and knowledge necessary for leaders creating and providing products, services and making policy for older adults, said Erickson School Dean Kevin Eckert.
“From healthcare and housing to finance and development, the Masters in Management of Aging Services is designed specifically to prepare individuals for leadership roles unique to the 21st Century,” Eckert said.
For more information, click here to download the MAgS brochure.
Designed for working professionals, the program is offered in a 15-month executive masters format. The program begins with an intensive one-week session followed by sessions every two to three weekends and concludes with an integrative capstone exercise addressing a relevant issue for each student’s specific organization or agency.
With America’s population of 65 and older expected to skyrocket to 77 million by 2030, there will be unprecedented opportunities and challenges to meet the needs of older adults.
"With the launch of the master's program, the Erickson School is positioned to prepare many of the nation's leaders in the aging field," said UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III.
The MAgS program will be lead by a group of nationally recognized scholars and professors specializing in each of the Erickson School’s core disciplines of management, policy and aging. Distinguished faculty include:
- Dr. Bill Thomas, a Harvard-educated physician, international authority on geriatric medicine and eldercare and self-proclaimed “nursing-home abolitionist.”
- Dr. Judah Ronch, a national expert on geriatric mental health issues and a pioneer of reforms in the long-term care and aging services industry.
- Joseph A. Gribbin, Ph.D., an Associate Commissioner on loan from the Social Security Administration (SSA) and expert on the nation’s social insurance programs.
- Joseph A. Gribbin, Ph.D., an Associate Commissioner on loan from the Social Security Administration (SSA) and expert on the nation’s social insurance programs.
- William E. Fulmer, Ph.D., a national expert on organizational strategy and service excellence, a former senior vice president of the Executive Development Center of the Harvard Business School and former dean of University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business.