Three Decades in the Making: Geropsychologist Erlene Rosowsky, PsyD, FGSA Receives Emerita Status

When reflecting upon her more than three decades at William James College, Erlene Rosowsky, PsyD, FGSA likes to joke that she taught her first class on campus while enrolled as a student. It was the mid-1980s and, during her first foray into adult development (taught by Robert Kegan, PhD), the semester concluded with a not-so-subtle suggestion that human development ended at age 40. 

“I protested wildly, because I was over 40 and didn't think [anything] had ended,” recalls Rosowsky who, after raising three children, was on the brink of a new career. Motivated by Kegan (who essentially said, ‘You want it, you win it’), Rosowsky presented a lecture to her six or seven peers—a first step, of sorts, in her becoming a clinical psychologist with a specialty in gerontology. 

“I have always been fascinated by how people communicate,” says Rosowsky, whose early career as a full-time, grant-funded student—spanning degrees in Speech Pathology and Audiology plus a CAGS in Language Rehabilitation, all from Boston University—helped plant the seeds of her lifelong passion.

“I [eventually] fell in love with old people and their life stories,” recalls Rosowsky who credits a serendipitous interview with Dr. Hans T. Clarke, an octogenarian and early discoverer of Vitamin C and the synthesis of penicillin, as turning the tides of her clinical interests. After earning her EdM, Rosowsky schlepped her enormous tape recorder to their initial meeting at The Jimmy Fund to capture his life story; over the ensuing years, she returned at regular intervals (without her tape recorder) to visit with Clarke who had become a friend.  

Given the propensity of language breakdown following a stroke, Rosowsky’s interest in the aging population was further piqued while studying neuropsychology and aphasia as a PhD candidate. In the midst of seeking a dissertation topic, illness interrupted her studies; after 18 months (including ample time for reflection), Rosowsky returned to her work with renewed clarity:

“I was really interested in the psychology of these old people,” recalls Rosowsky who, with just a trio of relevant courses under her belt, enrolled in the PsyD program at the former MSPP—paying tuition for the very first time. For context, she completed the four-year program in 1988 as her youngest child was graduating from high school. The following year, Rosowsky served as a National Institute of Mental Health Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, an institution with which she has been affiliated (as an instructor, assistant clinical professor and teaching assistant) ever since.

Rosowsky’s tenure at William James College commenced in 1993 when she joined the faculty as an adjunct—a term not used at the time. She served on the core faculty from 2003-2018 and, since 2019, Rosowsky has taught in the Department of Clinical Psychology. Prior to her retirement in June 2020, Rosowsky served as Director of the Geropsychology Concentration and Founding Director of the College’s Alliance for Aging; she is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America. 

“I miss being in a [classroom] space filled with youthful enthusiasm, vigor, and energy,” says Rosowsky who was named Professor Emerita in September 2024 by President Nicholas A. Covino, PsyD. And, as she reflects on what’s in the rear-view mirror as well as what lies ahead, another common theme emerges.

“As I continue to experience my own change in continuity, a professional commitment to mentoring has evolved,” says Rosowsky who, upon her retirement from teaching, vowed to give back. Locally, she sits on the Board of the Needham Library; further afield, Rosowsky serves on two committees of the International Psychogeriatric Association where she is helping to bring the full spectrum of geriatric mental health to light on a global platform via a new mentoring program. 

“We are taking a macro look at mental health and old age around the world,” says Rosowsky of IPA initiatives which will ultimately feed recommendations to the United Nations and the World Health Organization.

Closer to home, Rosowsky (a three-time Specialist Award recipient to The Netherlands and China), sits on the board of the Massachusetts Fulbright Association. Next month, she will facilitate a program at Mass General Hospital in Boston on the topic of professional mentoring.

“As individuals retire, and presumably leave the professional arena, the concept and continuity of the professional self remains important,” says Rosowsky who, after closing her private practice,turned toward consulting. Most calls come from middle-aged kids who have aging parents, in-laws—or in some cases spouses—and need help navigating the transition, a topic on which Rosowsky has become an expert. 

“I am now living what I’ve been teaching for 40 years,” she says of a niche that, while almost nonexistent when she began her studies, is growing in leaps and bounds out of  necessity. According to the American Psychological Association, older adults will account for 21 percent of our nation’s population by the year 2030; this figure represents a 15 percent increase from the year 2014.

Rosowsky, who has achieved international recognition as an expert on late-life personality disorders; is well published in the field; she has co-authored four books, and written numerous chapters, articles, and columns. 

“It can be [equally] hard for academic institutions to recognize and let go, to talk about aging and leaving,” says Rosowsky which is why her post-retirement commitment to the College includes mentoring—in conjunction with Claire Fialkov, PhD—to faculty, staff and administrators approaching retirement.

“Mentoring is not therapy,” she reiterates, “it’s bi-directional, person-to-person exchange and discussion about [a major life transition], and how one’s relationship to their career—which is integral to their sense of self—evolves over time in fits and starts.” 

In response to some of her former patients’ expressing how they missed her and “hearing [her] voice, ” Dr R. created a website during the COVID-19 pandemic—an endeavor that challenged her to write “like a regular person” rather than in orthodox academic style. She reports that, so far, she has kept up the website—and hopes never to go into lockdown again!

• Tags:
• Around Campus