Kenneth Ferraro

Faculty Associate: Center on Aging and the Life Course Ph.D., University of Akron, (1981) Website: https://www.purdue.edu/aging/faculty/?id=1 Specialization aging; health; life course analysis; cumulative inequality Professor Ferraro uses a life course perspective to study health inequality and developed cumulative inequality theory for the study of aging, stratification, and health.  His topical areas of research include racial/ethnic disparities, obesity, and the early origins of adult health.  He is the author of over 135 refereed-journal articles in publications such as the American Sociological Review , American Journal of Sociology , American Journal of Public Health , Journal of Health and Social Behavior , Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences , Social Forces , and Social Psychology Quarterly .  Several of his former students hold faculty positions at research universities including Case Western Reserve, Johns Hopkins, Minnesota, Nebraska, Toronto, Wayne State, and Chung-Ang (South Korea).  Ferraro was the founding Director of the Center on Aging and the Life Course at Purdue University and was named Distinguished Professor of Sociology in 2008.