Debra Umberson is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Umberson's research focuses on social factors that influence population health with a particular emphasis on aging and life course change, marital and family ties, and gender and racial variation in health disparities. Her recent publications have focused on marital transitions and body weight; stress and health behavior; gender and health in gay, lesbian, and straight couples; race, social ties, and disadvantage in health; and health policy addressing the link between social ties and health. She has been the recipient of a National Research Service Award and a FIRST Award from the National Institute on Aging. Dr. Umberson is also an elected Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America. Her current research, supported by a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investigator in Health Policy Research Award and the National Institute on Aging, examines how marital relationships affect health-related behavior and health care, and how those processes vary across gay, lesbian, and heterosexual unions. She is the immediate past editor of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior and Chair-elect of the Medical Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association. She is also the recipient of the 2015 Matilda White Riley Distinguished Scholar Award from the American Sociological Association's Section on Aging and the Life Course.
Ph.D.
in Sociology, Vanderbilt University, 1985
M.A.
in Sociology, Vanderbilt University, 1983
M.S.W.
in Social Work, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 1981
B.A.
in Gerontology, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 1980
Population Health ( Structural Determinants of Mental and Physical Health; Stress and Social Support; Health Behavior; Health Disparities; Sexual Minority Health); Family and Gender (Gender and Relationships; Same-Sex Couples; Marital Status and Health; Relationship Quality and Health; Family Status and Health; Intergenerational Relationships; Family and Bereavement); Aging and the Life Course (Psychosocial Epidemiology across the Life Course; Aging and the Family; Death and Dying; Marriage and Intimate Partnerships).
Elected Chair,
Medical Sociology Section, American Sociological Association of American (2015 - 2017)
Elected Chair,
Family Section, American Sociological Association (2014 - 2015)
Member,
Search Committee for Editor-In-Chief, Gerontological Society of America, Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences (2014)
Reviewer,
Social Science and Population Studiesr, National Institute on Child Health and Human Development (2014)
Member,
Distinguished Career Award Committee, American Sociological Association, Family Section (2014)
Reviewer,
Editorial Board, American Sociological Review; Journal of Health and Social Behavior; Journal of Marriage and Family; Demography; Journal of Health, Health Poltics, Policy and Law; Journal of the American Medical Association - Psychiatry (2012 - Present)
Editor in Chief,
Editorial Board, Journal of Health and Social Behavior (2011 - 2013)
Member-At-Large,
Behavioral and Social Sciences Committee, Gerontological Society of America (2011 - 2013)
Elected Council Member,
Section on Aging and the Life Course, American Sociological Association (2009 - 2011)
Associate Editor,
Editorial Board, Contexts (2006 - 2008)
Elected Chair,
Mental Health Section, American Sociological Association (2006 - 2007)
Reviewer,
Health of the Population, National Institute on Child Health and Human Development (2005)
Chair,
Nominations Committee, Family Section, American Sociological Association (1999 - 2000)
"Death of a Parent: Transition to a New Adult Identity" (Cambridge University Press, 2003).
?You Make Me Sick: Marital Quality and Health Over the Life Course.? Journal of Health and Social Behavior (2006). ?As Good As It Gets? A Life Course Perspective on Marital Quality.? Social Forces (2005).
Leonard I. Pearlin Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Sociological Study of Mental Health
- American Sociological Association (2016)
Centennial Commission Professorship in Liberal Arts
- University of Texas at Austin (2016)
Matilda White Riley Distinguished Scholar Award
- American Sociological Association (2015)
Best Mental Health Publication Award
- Mental Health Section of the American Sociological Association (2014)
Investigator Award
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2012 - 2016)
Investigator Award
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Program on Health Policy Research (2012 - 2016)
Elected Fellow
- Gerontological Society of America (2011)
Christie and Stanley E. Adams, Jr. Centennial Professorship in Liberal Arts
- University of Texas at Austin (2009 - 2016)
Elected Fellow
- Sociological Research Association (2008)
Deans Fellow
- University of Texas at Austin (2004)
National Research Service Award
- National Institute on Aging (1987 - 1989)
