Karl Pillemer

Karl Pillemer is a professor of human development at Cornell University and Professor of Gerontology in Medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical College. An internationally renowned gerontologist, his research examines how people develop and change throughout their lives. He has authored five books and over 100 scientific publications, and speaks throughout the world on aging-related issues.

After a chance encounter with a remarkable 90-year old woman, Dr. Pillemer decided to find out what older people know about life that the rest of us don't. His quest led him to ask more than a thousand older Americans their advice for living. He asked about all the big issues - love, marriage, children, work, happiness, avoiding regrets. This 6-year project led to the book: 30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans, published in November 2011.

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  • Election Reform / Lessons for Living

    In the first half, Graduate of Harvard University and NYU Law School, Jonathan Simon discussed his work with the Election Defense Alliance, whose mission is to restore observable vote counting to American elections and reform the current vulnerabilities of electronic voting...More »
  • Wisdom of Elders

    Joining George Noory, Professor of Gerontology at the Weill Cornell Medical College, Dr. Karl Pillemer, discussed his research on older people. He interviewed more than 1,000 Americans over the age of 65 about various topics, and they shared with him the wisdom and life lessons...More »

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