Man behind the phrase 'ageism' dies at 83

London, July 7 (ANI): Dr. Robert Butler, who coined the word "ageism," has died in New York City at 83.

Dr Butler's daughter Christine said that he died of leukemia at Mount Sinai Medical Center, reports the Telegraph.

A gerontologist and psychiatrist, he was the founding director of the National Institute on Aging, one of the National Institutes of Health.

Butler, who had coined the term 'ageism' or 'age discrimination' in 1968, was also instrumental in research that established that senility was not inevitable with aging, but rather a consequence of disease, according to the longevity centre website.

This research helped to set the agenda for concepts as "productive aging" and "successful aging."

He also is credited with the concept known as "life review," a therapeutic device people can use to reflect on their lives, said Ev Dennis, secretary of the longevity centre board.

Butler also wrote several books on aging, including the 1976 Pulitzer-winning 'Why Survive: Being Old in America'. (ANI)