Laura Carstensen

The Laura Carstensen presentations support the need to embrace aging not as a bad thing, but as something to be addressed positively. Carstensen believes that as individuals age they become more positive and engage with emotion easily; this makes them more equipped to deal with any variety of issues.

Currently, Laura Carstensen is a Professor of Psychology and director at the Stanford Center on Longevity. All of her research, which includes socioemotional selectivity, aging and behavior has been supported by the National Institute on Aging. For over 20 years Cartensen has researched and published more than 100 articles that examine life-span development and the effect of aging on individuals.

Prior to her position, Cartensen was a fellow at the American Psychological Society and the American Psychological Association. As a result of her research and work, Cartensen has been honored with the 'Stanford University's Deans Award for Distinguished Teaching' and the 'Richard Kalish Award for Innovative Research.' More recently, she was chosen as a 'Guggenheim Fellow' and received a 'Distinguished Career Award' from the Gerontological Society of America. In terms of her education she holds a Bachelor's of Science from the University of Rochester and a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from West Virginia University. The idea of larger more fulfilling lives for older individuals are discussed in Laura Carstensen presentations further prove that aging isn't so bad at all.