Professor Jaco Hoffman (DPhil, Oxon) is Professor of Socio-Gerontology at North-West University (Vanderbijlpark Campus), South Africa where he leads the Ageing and Generational Dynamics in Africa (AGenDA) programme and Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Population Ageing, where he co-ordinates the UN endorsed African Research Network on Ageing (AFRAN). AFRAN brings together African and international institutions and individuals from academia, policy and practice to develop and expand African research and training capacity on ageing.

He is an Honorary Professor in the Institute of Ageing in Africa, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, and is a Board Member of the South African Care Forum (SACF) and was a past president of the South African Gerontological Association (SAGA). Jaco co-directs, with Prof Sebastiana Kalula (UCT), the International Longevity Centre (ILC) – South Africa.

Jaco is involved in various developmental programmes and initiatives in the field of ageing in South Africa. His particular research interests revolve around intergenerational and care issues in sub-Saharan Africa in general and in particular the configuration and reconfiguration of these relationships in the context of poverty and HIV/AIDS.  

Jaco’s further professional responsibilities include:

Editorial Board Member of the International Journal of Intergenerational Relationships: programs, policy, and research (Taylor & Francis); Journal of Population Ageing (Springer), Ageing & Society (CUP).

Panelist of several research funding bodies, including the National Research Foundation, South Africa; ESRC, UK; VIDI, The Netherlands.

Member of successive Scientific Programme Committees of the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics and the International Federation on Ageing as well as the International Sociological Association RC11 “Sociology of Aging”.

Member of the Expert Group for the Revision of the AU POLICY FRAMEWORK and PLAN of ACTION on AGEING

Recent book / chapter publications include:

• Hoffman & Roos (2020) Post-colonial perspectives on rural ageing in (South) Africa: gendered vulnerabilities and intergenerational ambiguities of older African women. In, Skinner, M., Winterton, R., & Walsh, K. (Eds.). Rural Gerontology: Towards Critical Perspectives on Rural Ageing. Routledge. (In print).
• Vosman, F., Baart, A. & Hoffman, J. (Eds.). (2020). Ethics of Care: State of the Art. Peeters, Leuven
• Kaplan, M., Thang, L-L., Sanchez, M., & Hoffman, J. (Eds.). (2020). Intergenerational Contact Zones: Place-based Strategies for Promoting Social Inclusion and Belonging. Routledge.
• Hoffman, J. (2019). Second-parenthood realities, third‑age ideals: (grand) parenthood in the context of poverty and HIV/AIDS. In, Timonen, V. (Ed.). Grandparenting practices around the world. Bristol and Chicago, Policy Press/Bristol University Press and University of Chicago Press.
• Hoffman, J. (2018). Age(ing) on the Youngest Continent: Challenges and (Imagined) Prospects. In Pawlik, A. (Ed.). Grey is the New Pink: Moments of Ageing. Kerber, Germany. 
• Kaplan, M., Sanchez, M., & Hoffman, J. (2016). Intergenerational Pathways to a Sustainable Society. New York: Springer.
• Hoffman, J., & Pype, K. (Eds.) (2016). Ageing in Sub-Saharan Africa: Spaces and Practices of Care. Bristol: Policy Press.