Caroline E. Preston Scholarship

EST.1992

The Caroline E. Preston Scholarship was established in 1992 by a gift from Ms. Preston’s estate. Ms. Preston joined the UW faculty in September 1949 as a clinical psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry. She retired in July 1984 after 45 years on the faculty.

A pioneer in the field of gerontology and a committed teacher, Ms. Preston was interested in the social and psychological effects of aging, not just its physical effects. Bonnie Genevay was one of her students, who also became a close friend. “Caroline was interested in so many things — gender differences, the politics of aging, nursing home accreditation — and she was an exciting teacher because she had so many examples from older people’s lives,” Ms. Genevay recalls. “Her gift to the University symbolizes how important the University — and her students — were to her. She was not only a teacher but also a mentor and friend to me. She used to walk up to the HUB every week to supervise my research during the lunch hour, because that was the only hour I had available. That’s the kind of dedication she had to students.”