Sherylyn H Briller

Dr. Sherylyn Briller (PhD, 2000, Case Western Reserve University) is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Purdue University and a Faculty Associate in the Center on Aging and the Life Course. She is an applied cultural/medical anthropologist specializing in aging and life course issues. Briller has a long-standing interest in anthropologists' education and career development; she co-authored a well-known textbook Designing an Anthropology Career: Professional Development Exercises. After...See more

Dr. Sherylyn Briller (PhD, 2000, Case Western Reserve University) is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Purdue University and a Faculty Associate in the Center on Aging and the Life Course. She is an applied cultural/medical anthropologist specializing in aging and life course issues. Briller has a long-standing interest in anthropologists' education and career development; she co-authored a well-known textbook Designing an Anthropology Career: Professional Development Exercises. After working as a practitioner, Briller became an applied researcher working on old age support in the United States and Mongolia. Briller's individual and collaborative scholarship resulted in a four volume book series on dementia care settings, an interdisciplinary book about end-of-life issues, one design monograph, two guest-edited special issues, 10 book chapters, 21 peer-reviewed articles, and a community-engaged medical anthropology museum exhibit. Her work is used by policymakers, academics, healthcare professionals, patients, families and others. At the broadest level, her anthropological scholarship and practice aim to create a better, more inclusive world that supports people in achieving and maintaining social personhood across the life course and a range of disability and illness experiences. Briller is an accomplished teacher and mentor. She won a Presidential Award for Teaching, the university's highest teaching honor. Briller is a Fellow of the Society for Applied Anthropology and the Co-Chair of the Consortium of Applied and Practicing Anthropology Programs (COPAA). She is a former President of the Association for Anthropology & Gerontology Education (AAGE) and served on the SfAA's Nominations and Elections Committee. Briller is President-Elect of the Society for Applied Anthropology. See less