It is not getting old: the rejuvenation of social gerontology.

67 U PON hearing that I accepted the position of editor-in-chief of the Journal of Gerontology Social Sciences (JG:SS), a friend of mine, who happens to be a journalist, responded with the quip, " I guess it is not getting old. " As I parsed the multiple meanings of this statement, it occurred to me that the fi eld of gerontology has never been healthier and has in some sense been rejuvenated by recent advances in the science of human development and aging that include innovations in the theories and methods applied by geron-tologists, investments in data collection enterprises that allow true tests of developmental hypotheses, and integration of scholars across traditional disciplines that produces knowledge greater than the sum of its parts. Promoting a better understanding of the meanings, implications , and opportunities presented by the relentless march of population aging — perhaps the single most relevant fact across the constituent disciplines that make up the fi eld of gerontology — has become a priority around the world. Concurrently , the increased availability of long-term longitudinal data has fulfi lled the promise of dynamic theories of the life course as they relate to social, mental, and physiological well-being throughout the life span. As " models " of aging and " data " about aging have increasingly come into syn-chrony, the research community has before it the tools to answer questions related to cumulative advantage and disadvantage , cohort succession, and the process of human development going from neonatal conditions to the end of life. The collection of biomarker data and genetics — even in large nationally representative social surveys — has opened pathways for integrating the social sciences with the biological sciences in ways that were unimaginable even a decade ago. Qualitative and mixed methods studies that focus on the meanings attributed to successful and unsuccessful aging are fl ourishing in gerontology and have brought to light the socially constructed nature of aging and old age. Indeed, it is the overabundance, rather than the shortage, of data that is currently producing challenges for researchers in the social science of aging, increasing the importance of theory to guide the way. Social gerontology has also internationalized to a great degree. Cross-national and cross-continental collaborations and comparisons have fl ourished, shedding light on significant policy issues, as well as adding to basic social science knowledge about aging and older adults. Although we …