Gay Hanna teaches Sculpture and Health: Concepts of the Body as affiliate faculty for the Medical Humanities Initiative; and, as faculty in the Aging and Health Master’s Program, she teaches the Ethics & Humanities of Longevity. Dr. Hanna received her B.A. from Old Dominion University, Magna Cum Laude, M.F.A. in Sculpture from the University of Georgia, and Ph.D. in Art Education and Arts Administration at Florida State University. She also attended Societa Industria Commercio Marmi Architettura in Carrara, Italy, for specialized studies in sculpture. Before teaching at Georgetown University, Dr. Hanna was faculty at George Mason University where she taught courses on arts management related to arts in health, creative aging, and arts in the service of military members and their families. Dr. Hanna is also the president of Hanna Merrill, Inc. which researches and develops arts services supporting lifelong learning, health and wellbeing of individuals across the lifespan. Clients include MedStar Health Philanthropies Group, National Organization for Arts in Health, National Association of Music Makers and Grantmakers in the Arts.
Dr. Hanna’s work is widely published in journals and books including The Gerontologist, The American Medical Association’s Journal on Ethics and American’s For the Arts – Monograph Series. She has written several white papers for the National Endowment for the Arts including The Arts and Human Development: Framing a National Research Agenda for the Arts, Lifelong Learning and Individual Well Being (2011); and, The Summit on Creativity and Aging in America, a report written in collaboration with the 2015 White House Conference on Aging (2016).
Dr. Hanna keeps an active studio exhibiting her sculpture at the Watergate Gallery in Washington, DC. Her home is in Arlington, Virginia, where she lives with her husband, Philip Merrill, and their dog, Michelangelo “Mike”.
Academic Appointment(s)
- Secondary
- Adjunct Lecturer, College of Arts & Sciences