Denise Scruggs, director of University of Lynchburg’s Beard Center on Aging, is the 2013 recipient of the Virginia Commonwealth University Department of Gerontology’s ACE Award in recognition of her achievements in advocacy and community engagement in the professional field of gerontology.
The award will be presented on Saturday, April 6at the annual AGE Virginia Awards Ceremony in Richmond.
Scruggs is coordinator for the annual conference on aging at University of Lynchburg — one of the largest gerontology conferences in Virginia. She is also president of Region 2000’s Consortium on Aging, which is composed of more than 90 agencies, organizations, businesses, and individuals working together to promote a community for all ages.
With more than 16 years of experience in gerontology in a diverse range of settings, Scruggs has worked in adult day care, nursing homes, memory support, and continuing care retirement communities.
She is certified by the National Certification Council of Activity Professionals as a certified activity director and by the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners as a certified dementia practitioner.
Scruggs is an approved instructor for the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioner’s Alzheimer’s & Dementia Course.
She serves on the Board of Directors for the Central Virginia Area Agency on Aging and Mental Health Association of Central VA, as well as the Advisory Board of Centra PACE.
Scruggs is a member of the Graduate Medical Education Committee of Centra’s Lynchburg Family Medicine Residency program.
She earned her master of arts from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and both a bachelor of social work and a master of science from Virginia Commonwealth University.
