Alumni Update: Where are they now?

Name: Ann D. Gross

Degree(s) Received: M.S.G. in Gerontology

Year of Graduation: 2002

Job title: Writer/Consultant

Company: AD Gross & Co

Location (city and state): New York, NY

Please briefly describe your position and your company:

I am an independent writer, editor, and consultant on all healthcare communications, including speechwriting, development and grant proposals, media relations and strategic planning. I develop, write, and produce newsletters for hospitals and medical departments.  I also do research for medical professionals.  My clients include hospitals, medical centers, long-term care facilities, adult day/activity centers, corporations, physicians, and researchers.  

Why did you choose to study gerontology at the USC Davis School?

Early in my life, my mother taught me to “see” and appreciate older people.  My Dad was 48 when I was born, which, given my birth cohort, was quite old.  I only remember my Dad with white hair.  And even up until the day he died just short of his 94th birthday, he was never an “old man.”  I had wanted to continue my studies past the undergraduate level, but never could settle on one subject matter until I learned about gerontology.  At the very least, I thought the knowledge would help me with my aging parents – as it surely did – and my own aging, as it surely has!

How did you learn about your current position?  Was it through an internship, a previous job, or a connection through USC?

No; I decided to work on my own.  But having the MA credential from ‘SC gave me the confidence to work on my own because of the huge demand for people with knowledge on the art and science of aging.

Please briefly describe how the USC Davis School’s curriculum helped prepare you for your current position.

That is a longer answer than anyone will want to read. Suffice it to say – and I know I’m proverbially “preaching to the choir” here – that my gero degree opened many doors for me.  When someone reads that I have a masters in gerontology from USC, they immediately pay attention to my resume.  It’s like a magic wand.  One of my favorite examples is that I was chosen to write a column for the periodical, CARING FOR THE AGES (Wolters Kluwer, formerly Lippincott Williams & Wilkins).  I wrote 13 columns, called “A Daughter’s Journal,” (http://www.anndgross.net, see publications) about my mother’s experiences in a long-term-care facility and about my feelings surrounding these experiences.  The column subsequently won two APEX awards.  I am certain they chose me to write this – and trusted my writer’s voice – because of my gero degree from USC.  And it was my courses with Carl Renold, Bob Knight, Merril Silverstein, Beth Mabry, Debra Sheets, and Galen Buckwalter, that gave me the understanding to write this column.

What advice would you offer to a prospective student interested in studying gerontology at USC?

I would say, “Drop everything and run to ‘SC to study gerontology. As my mother used to say, ‘You’ll never be sorry!’”

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"I would say, “Drop everything and run to ‘SC to study gerontology. As my mother used to say, ‘You’ll never be sorry!’"

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