She is a professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin and director of the Population Research Center.
[1] Upon receiving her PhD, Umberson accepted a faculty appointment in sociology at the University of Texas at Austin in 1985.
[6] In the same year, Umberson led a study finding a correlation between childhood stress and weight gain in older women.
[8] By January 2019, she was appointed the Co-Director of the Texas Aging and Longevity Center to study baby boomers.
"[12] She also received the 2020 Distinguished Career Award from the Family Section of the American Sociological Association.