The American Society on Aging (ASA) recently presented David Nevison, M.S.S. '74, with its 2018 ASA Award.
The ASA Award recognizes outstanding contributions to aging-related research, administration, or advocacy, and is given annually to one individual. Nevison was the chief planning, development, and government relations officer for Philadelphia Corporation for Aging (PCA) until his retirement in June 2018.
ASA is a national multi-disciplinary professional association of more than 5,000 members that strives to support the commitment and enhance the knowledge and skills of those who seek to improve the quality of life of older adults and their families.
Nevison joined PCA in 1974, one year after the agency was established. Under his leadership, PCA’s planning and development department mounted major public awareness campaigns on aging issue, increased agency fundraising efforts to help support rising demands for aging services, developed a research and evaluation program to assess elders’ needs and the effectiveness of programs serving them, and strengthened agency advocacy efforts on behalf of older adults locally and nationwide. He also oversaw the development of numerous nationally recognized PCA programs, such as the Regional Conference on Aging, the Behavioral Health & Aging Certification Program, and PCA’s Age-Friendly Philadelphia initiative, a citywide collaborative effort to enable older adults to remain healthy, active, and engaged in their communities for as long as possible.
In addition to his significant contributions to PCA and the Philadelphia network of senior-serving professionals, Nevison served on ASA’s board of directors for a total of 11 years, including on the executive committee and as chair of the governance committee. He recently served on the editorial advisory committee of Aging Today, ASA’s bi-monthly newspaper.
“It was so heartwarming when I won this ASA award to see and hear from people I’d worked with for years, who thought my contributions were valuable enough to be recognized in this way,” Nevison said.