Professor Rachel Filinson graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with a baccalaureate degree from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and received her M.Sc In Sociology at the University of Stirling (Scotland). She was employed as a Research Fellow at the Medical Research Council Institute of Medical Sociology in Aberdeen Scotland and simultaneously completed her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Aberdeen. Dr. Filinson was awarded an NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health) postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Missouri-Columbia and a Gerontological Society of American postdoctoral fellowship. While teaching at Purdue University in Indiana, she obtained funding to launch a Gerontology Center. Since being hired at Rhode Island College in 1987, she has taught a wide array of courses that focus on gerontology, sociological theory, sociological methods, and service learning. During her 2006 sabbatical, Dr. Filinson was a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at King's College London.

Dr. Filinson has published over 40 articles in scholarly journals (and a short story) and edited a book entitled Elder Abuse: Practice and Policy.  She is a co-investigator on grants funded by HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration), Tufts Health Plan Foundation, and The Collaborative (of Rhode Island). As coordinator of the Gerontology Center, she has organized a yearly conference on aging held at the College. She serves on the Board of Consulting Editors for the Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect, the board of United Methodist Elder Care and is participating in statewide efforts to enhance the age friendliness of Rhode Island.  She is married with two grown daughters and lives in Providence.

Education

• Ph.D. , Sociology | University of Aberdeen, Scotland, l982
• M.Sc., Sociology | University of Stirling, Scotland, l979
• B.A. Liberal Arts & Sciences | University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, l977