Dr. Harrington Meyer is a nationally recognized expert on older adult issues and social policy. She will be discussing her newest book, Food for Thought, described by reviewers as “a must-read for any scholar or policymaker interested in confronting the public health challenge of senior food insecurity”.
The book examines the experience of food hardship for today’s older adults, the structural landscape in navigating these challenges, and recommendations for federal, state, and local policies. An alumnus of the Pepper Institute and a sought-after public speaker, Dr. Harrington Meyer’s talk promises to be engaging for anyone in the fields of aging, public policy, health, or anyone interested in improving food security or the lives of older adults in the U.S.
This lecture is free and open to the public. No registration required.
✏️The Shepard & Ruth K. Broad Auditorium (Claude Pepper Center Room 116)
📍636 Call Street
📅Friday, February 13th, 2026
🕒10:00 a.m.
Madonna Harrington Meyer is University Professor at Syracuse University. She is professor of sociology at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor of Teaching Excellence. She is senior research associate at the Center for Policy Research, faculty affiliate at the Aging Studies Institute, and Faculty Research Affiliate at the Lerner Center. She specializes in aging, care work, and grandparenting in the US.
She is co-author, with Colleen M. Heflin, of Food for Thought: Understanding Older Adult Food Insecurity (2025). She is author of a children’s book based on her research Grandma’s Joy (2024). She is co-author, with Ynesse Abdul-Malak, of Grandparenting Children with Disabilities (2020), and co-editor with Ynesse Abdul-Malak of Grandparenting in the United States (2016). She is co-editor with Elizabeth Daniele of Gerontology: Changes, Challenges, and Solutions (2016). She is author of Grandmothers at Work: Juggling Families and Jobs (2014), winner of the Gerontological Society of America’s Kalish Book Award. She is co-author with Pamela Herd of Market Friendly or Family Friendly? The State and Gender Inequality in Old Age (2007), which also won the Gerontological Society of America’s Kalish Book Award. She is editor of Care Work: Gender, Labor, and the Welfare State (2000).
She has published numerous scholarly articles; her work appears in leading journals including American Sociological Review, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Gender & Society, and Social Problems. She has received research grants from numerous organizations including The Russell Sage Foundation, The Retirement Research Consortium, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Borchard Foundation, and the American Sociological Association.
Her research has been reported in the media including New York Times, NPR, US News and World Report, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Business Insider, Houston Chronicle, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Christian Science Monitor, and LA Times.
In 2016 she was named winner of the American Sociological Association (ASA) Section on Aging and the Life Course (SALC) Matilda White Riley Distinguished Scholar Award.
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