Scott A. Bass, Ph.D.
Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School
University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Scott Bass received a combined doctorate in Psychology and Education in 1976 from the University of Michigan, from which he also earned an M.A. in Clinical Psychology and a B.A. in Psychology.

Dr. Bass is Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), and holds academic appointments of Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Public Policy.  Prior to coming to UMBC in 1996, he was Professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston where he was founding Director of the University's Gerontology Center and Institute and Director of the Ph.D. Program in Gerontology–one of the first two in the country.

At UMBC he has instituted recruitment strategies and program initiatives resulting in 50% growth in graduate enrollments and initiated campus-wide efforts to expand inclusiveness.  In 2003, UMBC was awarded the CGS/Peterson’s Award for Innovation in Promoting an Inclusive Graduate Education Community. Dr. Bass has overseen the doubling of external grants and contracts and developed university partnerships with federal laboratories, government agencies, the private sector, and other leading universities.  He led a team effort to attract $75M in new funding to campus, including the establishment of five new, externally-funded research centers. 

Dr. Bass is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America. In 2004 Dr. Bass was a Visiting Professor at Stanford University and worked closely with the senior administration at the Stanford School of Medicine.  His honors and awards include the GSA’s Ollie Randall Symposium Award in 1985.  His first book received the Academic Book of the Year Award from Choice.  At the University of Massachusetts Boston, he received the Distinguished Professional Public Service Award and the Distinguished Service Award from the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research.  He was a Visiting Associate at the Lincoln Gerontology Centre, La Trobe University, Australia, in 1989, and was awarded a Fulbright Research Scholarship to study in Japan in 1994. In 1996, Dr. Bass received a National Master Teacher Award and, in 1996-97, he was selected for the Clark Tibbitts Award for lifetime contributions to the field of gerontology and geriatric education– both by the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education.

He is co-editor or author of eight books.  He is founding co-editor of the Journal of Aging & Social Policy and has published approximately 50 book chapters and articles and over 30 monographs or research reports regarding aging policy.