Dr. Kerry Burnight, Ph.D

About the Author

America’s Gerontologist, Dr. Kerry Burnight, is on a mission to make older, better.  Dr. Kerry taught Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology for 18 years at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. At the University’s Clinical Geriatrics Center, she had a front-row seat to observe thousands of people and their families navigate old age. What struck her most was the radically different way people experience their own aging process. For some, it is a frustrating, degrading, painful trajectory of ever-increasing decline. For others, there is a visible delight in occupying their 8th or 9th decade. For the latter, wry smiles and humor attract others to them like moths to the light.

Improving lives is her true north and the birthplace for this book. As writing goes, she’s published extensively ― academic journal articles, book chapters, magazine articles, and blogs. Kerry Burnight was an invited speaker to the U.S. White House at the Elder Justice Summit, and at the U.S. Department of Justice. She has appeared on such T.V. programs as Dr. Phil, The Doctors, Money Matters, CBS News, NBC News, Dr. Drew Show, and has been the keynote speaker at hundreds of conferences. She is the co-founder of the nation’s first Elder Abuse Forensic Center, and founder of TheGerontologist.com. She’s known as “America’s Gerontologist” for her passion in sharing knowledge about healthy aging via keynotes, podcasts, blogs, Instagram, X, Facebook, and Tiktok.