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July 25, 2008
Pride of the province
Dr. Gloria Gutman is a pioneer in gerontology.
ALLEGRA LEVY
Dr. Gloria Gutman is one of the most celebrated academics British Columbia has ever produced, and one of the first women to pioneer an entirely new field of study. Her resume is 23 pages long, but her office is still only 75 square feet, on Simon Fraser University's downtown campus. In this white-walled box that seems incongruous to an Order of British Columbia scholar, she fills the room with a presence that dwarfs her tiny frame.
Gutman calls her entrance into major league academia a "geographical accident," a fortunate side effect of entering the graduate program of psychology at the University of Alberta in the 1960s. But her high position now is not the product of an easy ascent – "They took one look at me and told me, 'Why don't you go home and have a baby or something?'" recalled Gutman.
Despite the initial frustration, she managed to push herself to the edge of human ability, mothering three children and producing a body of work that would make any scholar jealous. Gutman has written and edited at least 20 books and more than 100 scholarly articles. She has worked with or run many Canadian national health organizations and is responsible for some of the biggest breakthroughs surrounding the science of aging.
Beneath all the research, Gutman is a true Vancouverite. She has lived between Arbutus and Oak Street for most of her life and has raised her children in Vancouver's Jewish community. Over three generations, she has watched the city evolve and has seen the community grow.
Gutman grew up Jewish when the options were to either be very Jewish or not to be Jewish at all, with no third choice. "I went to Prince of Wales and there were, I think, four Jewish kids in the class, and it was very difficult," she said.
As the eldest of four daughters, she began the tradition of being an active member and eventually a regional president of the B'nai Brith Youth Organization, a legacy that continued with her own daughter and into other branches of the family. "There has certainly been expansion in the Jewish community and we've always had strong youth groups," noted Gutman.
Last year, Gutman, a longtime global representative of British Columbia and Canada, received serious recognition at home. She was awarded the Order of British Columbia, the highest honor granted by the provincial government to those who have contributed something of great value to the province. She joined a distinguished list of British Columbians, such as David Suzuki and hockey great Trevor Linden.
Though she has held presidencies and met royalty, the Order of British Columbia is Gutman's proudest recent achievement. "It's a very interesting and distinguished group of people. I was very much in awe of the other people who had been awarded with me, and looking at those who had been awarded in the past," said Gutman.
She received the award for her pioneering work in the field of gerontology. From merely an offshoot of psychological research, she helped develop a field of study that not only illuminates the nature of aging, but allows for the prevention of elderly abuse, a growing problem in the globally aging population. Specifically, Gutman developed the Gerontology Research Centre and other programs in the province because, she said, "There was nothing before, in that direction. I've been very involved internationally as well, and this has brought some visibility to the things that we're doing."
Gutman's recent work focuses on demographic shifts and the movement of the elderly to becoming a larger percentage of the population, especially in smaller provinces, from which younger people tend to move away.
Allegra Levy is a Vancouver freelance writer.
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