Editor’s Note: McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Home Care are profiling the McKnight’s 2023 Pinnacle Awards honorees daily in April and May. For additional McKnight’s Pinnacle Awards content, visit this page.

Robyn Stone’s heart resides at the intersection of research and policy.

A rarity among researchers, she lives for bridging the divide and applying what she’s learned about how we care for our aging populations. She currently is the senior vice president for research for LeadingAge and co-director of the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston.

Her lifelong efforts have led to a plethora of benefits for providers and earned her a 2023 McKnight’s Pinnacle Award in the “Industry Ally” category.

Moving from the White House to LeadingAge, and influencing multiple boards and policies along the way, Stone’s trusted research has taken her to Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Israel to advise leaders on how best to care for growing populations of elders.

“All older adults, regardless of economic status, should have access to quality, affordable long-term services and supports and housing that allows them to age successfully with dignity and autonomy in the setting and community of their choice,” she said after receiving Next Avenue’s Influencer in Aging award in 2017.

Her 1987 report, “Exploding the Myths: Caregiving in America,” received national recognition, and her work quantifying the scope of family caregiving contributed to the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. More recently, her research has highlighted workforce challenges in the long-term care industry.

Before joining LeadingAge, Stone led the International Longevity Center–USA, was senior research director for Georgetown University’s Center for Health Care Policy Research and for Project HOPE’s Center for Health Affairs, and was a research fellow with the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality.

A former White House appointee, she has served as assistant secretary for aging and deputy assistant secretary for disability, aging and long-term care policy in the Department of Health and Human Services.

Stone also was on the staff of the 1989 US Bipartisan Commission on Comprehensive Health Care and the Clinton administration’s Task Force on National Health Care Reform.

Among her various academic credentials, Robyn Stone earned a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and a doctorate in public health from the University of California, Berkeley.

The McKnight’s Pinnacle Awards program is jointly administered by McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Home Care. Honorees were recognized March 7 at a gala banquet and awards ceremony in Chicago. The program’s Platinum sponsor was MatrixCare. Omnicare was a Silver sponsor, and additional sponsors included Pinnacle Quality Insight, HealthDirect and Sentrics.