Debra Rose, PhD, FNAK, is a chair and professor emerita of the department of kinesiology at California State University at Fullerton and is director emerita of the university’s Center for Successful Aging. She also served as one of three codirectors of the Fall Prevention Center of Excellence at the University of Southern California, funded by the Archstone Foundation. The goal of the Fall Prevention Center was to advance national and statewide efforts to reduce falls among older adults. For the past 40 years, Rose’s primary research focus has been the development of fall risk assessment tools and theoretically driven interventions that address balance and gait disorders in older adults. She is nationally and internationally recognized for her scholarly contributions to the literature, and her research has been published in numerous peer-reviewed publications, including Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Neurology Report, and Journal of Aging and Physical Activity. The innovative fall risk reduction program she developed is considered a best practice program in health promotion and continues to be implemented in numerous community-based settings and retirement communities throughout the United States. The Balance and Mobility Specialist Instructor certificate program that she founded in 2003 has trained over 1,000 instructors and clinicians to deliver effective individual and group-based balance and mobility programs in a variety of settings. Rose is a fellow and past president of the National Academy of Kinesiology, former executive board member of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA), and past editor in chief of Journal of Aging and Physical Activity. Elizabeth White, MS, is a graduate of California State University at Fullerton with a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in kinesiology, with a concentration in gerokinesiology. She is assistant program director of the Balance and Mobility Specialist Instructor certificate program, which trains professionals to deliver FallProof balance and mobility programs. She has years of experience designing exercise programs for older adults based on client needs, goals, and abilities. She is also a part-time lecturer and researcher at California State University at Fullerton as well as an adjunct faculty member in the older adults education department at Mt. San Antonio College. White has a passion for working with the older adult population and teaches group-based balance, mobility, and fitness classes to older adults in hopes of helping them age successfully and improve their overall quality of life.
