Paths to Leadership in the Senior Living Industry

This book assembles many of the great leaders of the senior living and care industry to discuss their paths to and views on leadership. Each chapter provides readers with ideas, information, and inspiration on how to achieve leadership in this dynamic, mission-focused industry. It includes various strategies for success, such as promoting meaning and purpose in corporate culture, making decisions in the absence of perfect information, managing your personal assets of relationships and reputation, and finding competitive advantages through technology, training, and team-building. These leaders also share their experiences responding to COVID-19 and discuss how the pandemic may change the future of leadership in the industry.

Whether your path starts in gerontology, nursing, social work, design, real estate, finance, law, operations, or technology, and whether one pursues work in the private, nonprofit, or government sectors, this volume provides a valuable resource for all aspiring and developing leaders in the senior living industry.

Dr. Edward L. Schneider received his undergraduate degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and graduated cum laude from the Boston University School of Medicine, from which he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award in May of 1990.

Before joining the University of Southern California in 1986, Dr. Schneider was the Deputy Director of the National Institute on Aging and the Chief of the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Gerontology Research Center, National Institute on Aging. He served as Dean of the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and Executive Director of the Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center at USC for almost 18 years, from 1986 to 2004. He is currently Professor of Gerontology, Medicine, and Biological Sciences at the University of Southern California. Dr. Schneider enjoys teaching and was voted the Teacher of the Year in 2016 by the students of the Leonard Davis School.

Dr. Schneider was instrumental in the creation of the Buck Institute on Aging in Navato, California. He served as the Scientific Director of the Buck Institute from 1989 through 1998.

A respected leader in the field of gerontology for more than four decades, he has published over 190 research articles and written or edited 14 books. Dr. Schneider has also been on the editorial boards of more than half a dozen journals and was the first recipient of the William and Sylvia Kugel Chair of Gerontology at the University of Southern California. Dr. Schneider serves on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging.

In September 2017, USC inaugurated the Edward L. Schneider MD Chair in Gerontology to acknowledge his contributions to the field of gerontology.

Dr. Schneider is a sought-after lecturer and has been interviewed by numerous broadcast media outlets, including NPR, Good Morning America, CNN, CBS, NBC, and BBC, and in print stories by Forbes, Newsweek, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

Dr. Schneider has raced sailboats for several decades and was an offshore sailing coach for the US Naval Academy sailing team.

Matthew Lifschultz received a Master of Aging Services Management from the School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California in 2018. He holds a JD from Fordham Law School, a B.A. Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, and he studied Public Finance at NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service. Lifschultz advises companies and individuals on communications, public image, and leadership.