GERONTOLOGY NEWS
from the Gerontological Society of America
MARCH 1999
In Memoriam
Margret M. Baltes, PhD, a longtime distinguished member of GSA died unexpectedly of heart failure on January 28, 1999. She was fifty-nine years old. Dr. Baltes was Professor of Psychological Gerontology and head of the Psychological Gerontology research unit in the Department of Gerontopsychiatry at the Free University of Berlin. She served as a mentor and colleague to many members of GSA. She was a fellow of the Society and received GSA’s Behavioral and Social Sciences Section Distinguished Mentorship Award in 1994. Before her move to Germany, Dr. Baltes held a position as Associate Professor of Human Development at Pennsylvania State University.

She was a major force in the international community of psychologists studying life-span development and aging. She was well-known for her research dealing with everyday competence and dependency in old age, cognitive plasticity and Alzheimer’s disease, and successful aging.

Professor Baltes is survived by her husband, Paul, and children Boris and Anushka. A memorial service attended by many colleagues from Germany, the US and other European countries, was held in Berlin on February 5th.