About

Ron is trained in philosophy with a Ph.D. from the Board of Studies in History of Consciousness, University of California, Santa Cruz. His first book, Kierkegaard As Educator (University of California Press, 1977), explores the Danish philosopher’s stages of human development, scholarship that Ron has applied to his work in the field of aging and human development. Ron has taught at UNC-Asheville, the Smithsonian Associates program in Washington, D.C., New Experimental College (Denmark), Wayne State University, the University of California, Santa Cruz, San Diego State University, and The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA.

Ron has combined scholarly and practical interests through developing educational programs for retirement-aged people in colleges, universities, libraries, senior centers, nursing homes and retirement communities.  He has published numerous studies investigating philosophical issues of later life and human development, including A Map to the End of Time: Wayfarings with Friends and Philosophers (Norton, 1999), and information and resource volumes such as the Older Americans Almanac: A Reference Work on Seniors in the United States (Gale Research, Inc., 1994), The Second Middle Age: Looking Differently at Life Beyond 50 (Visible Ink Press, 1995), and Older Adult Education: A Guide to Research, Policies and Programs (Greenwood Press, 1995). His books, A Map to the End of Time, and Kierkegaard As Educator have been translated into Chinese and Korean. Ron’s Mirrors of the Mind: Reflecting on Philosophers’ Autobiography, was published in February 2015 and his Growing Up Existentially, in 2018, by the Jorvik Press, Portland, OR.

Ron is a frequent contributor to scholarly monographs, journals and mainstream publications including the Wall St. Journal and Where to Retire magazine. He is frequently cited in national publications (e.g., Business Week, Money, Smart Money, Wall St. Journal) for his insights on the changing nature of retirement and the expectations of mainly the college-educated Baby Boomers. He has also appeared on such TV programs as CBS Sunday Morning and The Daily Apple (Retirement Living Network). He has provided consulting services to housing developers (including retirement communities), financial services companies (e.g., UBS, ING, MetLife), economic development groups and chambers of commerce of communities seeking to attract retirees. He is active in national aging organizations and is a Fellow of the University of North Carolina Institute on Aging. Ron is also a board member of the BJH Foundation, headquartered in Greensboro, NC and has served as a Hospice Volunteer.