Physical Change and Aging

Sue V. Saxon, PhD, is professor emeritus at the School of Aging Studies, University of South Florida. She received her PhD in developmental psychology and counseling from Florida State University and pursued additional graduate work in physiological psychology at the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Saxon was a research psychologist for the National Institutes of Health and for the Laboratory of Perinatal Physiology at the University of Puerto Rico Medical School, before joining the faculty in behavioral sciences at the University of South Florida. As a charter faculty member in the Aging Studies program, she has developed and taught numerous courses in aging as well as presented workshops, given in-service training, and authored a number of books and book chapters on aging. She has been designated a Gerontological Pioneer for outstanding achievement and exemplary contributions to the field of gerontology by the Southern Gerontological Society. Mary Jean Etten, EdD, GNP, CMP, FT, has been tenured full professor in the College of Nursing at St. Petersburg College, where she taught nursing, gerontology, and thanatology and developed an innovative curriculum teaching hospice care to nurses. She is currently an adjunct lecturer in thanatology in the School of Aging Studies at the University of South Florida. Dr. Etten received her doctoral degree in education from Nova Southeastern University and master's degrees in gerontology, counseling, and nursing from the University of South Florida. Dr. Etten is also a gerontological nurse practitioner. She is a fellow in thanatology and is board certified as a music practitioner. She has authored several books and manuals, as well as journal articles. She was a founder of Suncoast Hospice in 1978 and has remained on its boards for more than 35 years. In 2012 a building at Suncoast Hospice was dedicated in her honor. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Tampa Bay Business Journal in 2013.