Bernice Neugarten; Gerontologist Did Early Studies on Aging

Bernice L. Neugarten, 85, who became a pioneering gerontologist after she was assigned to teach what is believed to have been the nation’s first course on “Maturity and Old Age” in 1953, died Sunday in Chicago.

The Nebraska native earned three degrees in psychology and human development at the University of Chicago and spent her career teaching there. Assigned the innovative class on aging, she found that little research existed and set about doing studies.

She published her first paper, Potentialities of Women in the Middle Years, in 1956. Neugarten dispelled many mid-century myths about aging, showing that senior years were often happier and healthier than expected. She worked with the White House Conference on Aging and other programs to advocate useful health and household services for the elderly.

Ironically, Neugarten had no expectations of meaningful old age for herself. Thirty years ago the future octogenarian told The Times: “Frankly, longevity is hereditary and I come from a short-lived family. My mother died at 67 and my father died at 57, so I don’t expect to grow very old.”