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Bio Sketch
Thomas B. Jankowski, Ph.D., is Interim Director of the Institute of Gerontology and Associate Director for Research of the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute, both in the Division of Research and Innovation at Wayne State University. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Geronotology and Political Science at Wayne State.
Dr. Jankowski earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Michigan State University and earned his master’s and doctoral degrees from Wayne State University's Department of Political Science. Prior to entering academia, he worked in electoral politics as a campaign manager and director, and in state government as a Legislative Aide in the Michigan House of Representatives. He has been affiliated with the IOG since 1993, climbing through the ranks from research assistant to Associate Director in 2005, and assuming the role of Associate Director of MPSI in 2008. He was appointed Interim Director of the IOG in August of 2024.
Dr. Jankowski's research has been published in journals such as The Gerontologist, Journal of Politics, Social Science Quarterly, Political Behavior, Journal of Aging, Humanities, and the Arts, International Journal of Communication, and Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine. He was a contributing author to the edited volume entitled, "Nobody's Burden: Lessons from the Great Depression on the Search for Old-Age Security." His most recent article, published in the Journal of the Academy of Elder Law Attorneys in 2024, argues for the expansion of Medicaid long term care benefits to cover memory care for people with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
Dr. Jankowski has conducted older adult needs assessments across Michigan, helping government and non-profit agencies plan the programs and services necessary to support a growing older population. He was the principal investigator and author of the 2019 Michigan Older Adults Needs and Solutions Assessment conducted by the Area Agencies on Aging Association of Michigan. He has conducted program evaluations to analyze and improve services to address elder abuse and financial exploitation, support for family caregivers, senior transportation, isolation and loneliness among older adults, long term care supports, senior housing, creativity and fitness in later life, and many other programs for older adults. He has consulted with state government agencies, statewide associations, aging service providers, county commissions on aging, community based organizations, area agencies on aging, senior advocacy groups, and other organizations that serve older adults across the state. Dr. Jankowski has obtained nearly half a million dollars of extramural contracts and research grants in the past six years. He is currently partnering with the Michigan Developmental Disabilities Institute on a $7M effort to promote vaccination among underserved populations, particularly people with disabilities and older adults, training clinicians and health care providers to treat all of their patients with respect, to communicate effectively, and to accommodate people with special needs in comfort and dignity.
Dr. Jankowski has been invited to speak before dozens of local and statewide organizations that serve older adults. He is active in the aging network on the local, regional, and state level. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Southeast Michigan Senior Regional Collaborative and the Board of Trustees of the Baldwin Society Supporting Older Adults (formerly the American House Foundation). He also serves on the Board of Trustees as Vice President of the Luella Hannan Memorial Foundation and the Hannan Center in Detroit and is immediate past Chair of the Board of Directors of The Senior Alliance, Area Agency on Aging 1-C, where he was twice awarded the Edward H. McNamara Award for the pursuit of excellence in aging services. In 2023 he was elected to the Board of Directors of Presbyterian Villages of Michigan, the largest non-profit senior housing provider in the State of Michigan and appointed chair of their governing committee.
In his role as Associate Director at the IOG and MPSI, Dr. Jankowski has been responsible for the research technology and infrastructure of both institutes. He works with his faculty colleagues to enhance awareness of opportunities for extramural research funding, to enable and assist in their pursuit of that funding, and to help build research collaborations with other researchers across the University and around the world. He also manages computing resources and office and lab space at both institutes.
As the newly appointed Interim Director, Dr. Jankowski seeks to preserve the legacy of Dr. Peter Lichtenberg's 25-year leadership of the Institute of Gerontology, to assist in the identification and recruitment of a new permanent Director, and to support the new Director in continuing to promote and enable the growth and accomplishments of the Institute and its exceptional faculty.
Office Location
103 Knapp Bldg
87 E Ferry St
Detroit, MI 48202
Office Phone
313-664-2600
Publications
Schuster, Jim, and Thomas B. Jankowski. (2024). "The Medicaid program can and should provide better care for persons with dementia: The case for residental care alternatives to nursing homes that can provide improved care at lower cost." National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys Journal, 20, 21-34.
Leach, Carrie, and Thomas B. Jankowski. (2024). "Older adults as key assets in a community-based participatory needs assessment: How partnering with older residents improves local aging policy and practice." Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, 10, 1-9. DOI: 10.1177/23337214241234237
Leach, Carrie, Julie Novak, Thomas B. Jankowski, Sandy Pierce, and Pam Lapan. (2023). "An exploration of the communication dynamics of the hard-to-reach: Considering disintegration of a communication infrastructure in old age." International Journal of Communication, 17, 5781–5801.
Jankowski, Thomas B. (2011). "Public Response to the Needs of Old People." Ch. 2 in Ruth Ray and Toni Colasanti, eds., Nobody's Burden: Lessons from the Great Depression on the Struggle for Old-Age Security. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, pp. 33-56.
Cernin, Paul, Mary Katherine Cresci, and Thomas B. Jankowski. (2010). "Reliability and Validity Testing of the Short-Form Health Survey in a Sample of Community-Dwelling African-American Older Adults." Journal of Nursing Measurement 18 (1) 49-59.
Langlois, Janet, Thomas B. Jankowski, Mary Durocher, and Elizabeth Chapleski. (2008). "Otherwise destined for Eloise: Dread, contentment, and the public alternative to private 'relief' in old age." Journal of Aging, Humanities, and the Arts 2 (3-4), 186-206.
Jankowski, Thomas B. (2008). "Political behavior and orientations, later life." In D. Carr (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the Life Course and Human Development (Vol. 3, pp. 302-307). Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA.
Simons, Kelsey V., and Thomas B. Jankowski. (2008). "Factors influencing nursing home social workers' intentions to quit employment." Administration in Social Work 32 (1), 5-21.
Herring, Mary, Thomas B. Jankowski, and Ronald E. Brown. (1999). "Pro-Black doesn't mean anti-White: The structure of African-American group identity." Journal of Politics 61 (2), 363-386.
Ellis, R. Darin, Thomas B. Jankowski, Jarrod E. Jasper, and Balaji S. Tharuvai. (1998). "Listener: A tool for client-side investigation of hypermedia navigation behavior." Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers 30 (4), 573-582.
Ellis, R. Darin, Thomas B. Jankowski, and Jarrod E. Jasper. (1998). "Design of an Internet-based information system for aging services professionals." The Gerontologist 38 (6), 743-748.
Ellis, R. Darin , Thomas B. Jankowski, Jarrod E. Jasper, and Aziz Abdul. (1996). "Gero-informatics and the Internet: Locating gerontology information on the World Wide Web." The Gerontologist 36 (1), 100-105.
Jankowski, Thomas B. and John M. Strate. (1995). "Modes of participation over the adult life span." Political Behavior 17, 89-106.
Strate, John M. , Coit C. Ford III, and Thomas B. Jankowski. (1994). "Women's use of the print media to monitor politics." Social Science Quarterly 75, 166-186.
Jankowski, Thomas B. (1994). "Reciprocity, elder satisfaction, and caregiver stress and burden: The exchange of aid in the family caregiving relationship." Journal of Marriage and the Family 56, 35-43.
Research Description
legislative aide