Fernando Torres-Gil is director of the Center for Policy Research on Aging at the Luskin School of Public Affairs at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he is also a professor of social welfare and public policy. He is a leading spokesperson on demographics, aging and public policy. In 2010, President Obama appointed him vice chair of the National Council on Disability. During the Clinton administration, Torres-Gil served as the first-ever assistant secretary on aging in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and in 1978, President Carter named him to the Federal Council on Aging. Torres-Gil is a board member of AARP and a member of the Academies of Public Administration, Gerontology and Social Insurance. He is the author of six books and more than 100 publications. Torres-Gil holds a B.A. in political science from San Jose State University and an M.S.W. and a Ph.D. in social policy, planning and research from the Heller Graduate School in Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.