Robert N. Butler | |
|---|---|
 Butler in 2004 | |
| Born | Robert Neil Butler (1927-01-21)January 21, 1927 |
| Died | July 4, 2010(2010-07-04) (aged 83) New York, New York, US |
| Alma mater | Columbia University (BA,MD) |
| Awards | Pulitzer Prize (1976) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | |
Robert Neil Butler (January 21, 1927 – July 4, 2010) was an Americanphysician,gerontologist,psychiatrist, and author, who was the first director of theNational Institute on Aging. Butler is known for his work on the social needs and the rights of the elderly and for his research on healthy aging and thedementias.
Having grown up with his grandparents inVineland, New Jersey,[1][2] Butler was shocked by the dismissive and contemptuous attitude toward the elderly and their diseases by many of his teachers atmedical school, an attitude he later characterized as "ageism".[3]
He graduated fromColumbia College of Columbia University, where he was editor of theColumbia Daily Spectator and a member of thePhilolexian Society.[4]
Butler was a principal investigator of one of the firstinterdisciplinary, comprehensive,longitudinal studies of healthy community-residing older persons, conducted at theNational Institute of Mental Health (1955–1966), which resulted in the landmark bookHuman Aging. His research helped establish the fact thatsenility was not inevitable withaging, but is a consequence ofdisease.
In 1969, he coined the termageism to describe discrimination againstseniors; the term was patterned onsexism andracism.[5] Butler defined "ageism" as a combination of three connected elements. Among them were prejudicial attitudes towards older people, old age, and theaging process; discriminatory practices against older people; and institutional practices and policies that perpetuatestereotypes about elderly people.[6]
In 1975, he became the founding Director[7] of theNational Institute on Aging (NIA) of theNational Institutes of Health, where he remained until 1982. At the National Institute on Aging he establishedAlzheimer's disease as a national research priority.[8]
In 1982, he founded the Department of Geriatrics and Adult Development at theMount Sinai Medical Center, the first department ofgeriatrics in a United Statesmedical school.[9] In addition, Butler helped found the Alzheimer's Disease Association, the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry, the American Federation for Aging Research and the Alliance for Aging Research.[10]
Butler was the founder, chief executive officer, and president of theInternational Longevity Center-USA,[11] a non-profit international organization created to educate people on how to live longer and better.[12] The International Longevity Center-USA is now housed at theRobert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center, a university-wide center of Columbia University based at the Mailman School of Public Health[13]
Butler is best known for his 1975 bookWhy Survive? Being Old In America, which won thePulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1976.[14] A 2003 paperback edition is currently available (ISBN 0-8018-7425-4).
Butler authored 300scientific andmedical articles.[15]
Butler was the recipient of the 10th AnnualHeinz Award in the Human Condition category.[16] The award recognized his work in advancing the rights and needs of the nation's aging citizenry and enhancing the quality of life for elderly Americans.[17]
He received honorary degrees from theUniversity of Gothenburg in Sweden and theUniversity of Southern California as well as other awards such as the Lienhard Medal of the Institute of Medicine and a Hall of Fame Award from the American Society of Aging.[18]
Butler is featured in the 2009 documentary film,I Remember Better When I Paint,[19] which examines the positive impact of art on people withAlzheimer's disease and how these approaches can change the way the disease is viewed by society.[20]
