Laura Donorfio

Dr. Laura Donorfio is a Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Connecticut’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Since joining in 1989, she has pioneered research on aging, caregiving, and intergenerational dynamics. She led the establishment of the HDFS major at UConn Waterbury, innovating teaching via interactive television (iTV) across multiple campuses. Her research spans caregiving daughters/mothers, older driver safety (via MIT AgeLab collaborations), and aging drag queens. She is a Fellow of AGHE and CETL, and has received top teaching awards including AGHE’s Distinguished Teacher and GSA’s Clark Tibbitts Award.

• Education: MA and PhD in Adult Development, Aging, and Gerontology from UConn.

Her research interests focus on aging’s societal impacts, including caregiving dynamics, transportation safety for older adults, and the intersection of drag culture with aging identities. She co-authored a seminal textbook on gerontology field placements (2023) and has partnered with K-12 schools, OLLI, and corporate entities like The Hartford to bridge aging education.

Her teaching innovations include andragogy/geragogy frameworks and risk-taking taxonomies in pedagogy. She has advised over 400 focus groups nationally and co-led AGHE’s Teaching Institute since 2000. Beyond academia, she trains 2,000+ individuals annually on predator awareness through Hartford’s Lures Prevention Program.