Professors María Aranda and Yuri Jang were honored by the university at the 44th Annual Faculty Academic Honors Convocation ceremony in Town and Gown on April 16, 2025, in recognition of their induction into the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW), one the highest honors bestowed in the social work profession. AASWSW an honorific society of distinguished scholars, practitioners and policy leaders dedicated to achieving excellence in high-impact work to advance social good.

Aranda and Jang are social science researchers whose work is focused on older adult populations, and both have conducted groundbreaking research for decades in the areas of Alzheimer’s, related dementias and support for caregivers whose first language is not English. A world-class scholar and leader, Aranda is a tour de force in elucidating the individual, family, community and societal factors that impact the well-being of adults and their family caregivers living with chronic health conditions. Jang’s work focuses on increasing the quality of life for older adults using data to correct assumptions and bridge health care gaps.

Aranda has served on several consensus committees for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. In this capacity she has provided expertise on the geriatric workforce in mental health and substance use disorders, family caregiving to older adults, financial capacity determination, functional assessment for adults with disabilities, and evidenced-based interventions for persons living with dementia. In 2019, Aranda was appointed by California Governor Gavin Newsom to serve on the Governor's Task Force on Alzheimer’s (Disease) Prevention and Preparedness, chaired by Maria Shriver. The Task Force produced a report of recommendations to improve statewide standards and programs on behalf of close to 700,000 individuals living with dementia in California. 

Jang has focused her research on the areas of positive adaptation in aging, health disparities, and minority health and service utilization, including a project on mental health literacy among minority older adults funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and Johnnie B. Byrd Sr. Alzheimer’s Center and Research Institute. She has led a study on telecounseling for linguistically isolated older adults with funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and completed the Asian American Quality of Life (AAQoL) project, sponsored by the City of Austin, Texas, a city-wide needs assessment in Asian American communities. Jang was awarded an R01 grant from the National Institute on Aging to lead a five-year multi-site study, “Limited English Proficiency, Health, and Healthcare among Older Immigrants.”