The Osher program at William and Mary is in a slower-the-usual time for a couple of weeks; the spring semester has ended and the June summer session is two weeks away. I thought this would be a good time to tell you what the Osher program is – not just at William and Mary (if you read my newsletter regularly, you have a pretty good sense of that), but across the country.
Who is Bernard Osher?
Osher is a 97-year-old San Francisco banker and philanthropist who founded the Bernard Osher Foundation in 1977.
What Does the Bernard Osher Foundation do?
This foundation has funded over 120 Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes and colleges in the United States since 2001. Nearly 80% of the grants made by the foundation support educational programs, with the remaining grants going to arts organizations. Its biggest program is its national lifelong learning network for “seasoned” adults. I like this designation. Sounds better than old folks. You can learn more about the program by going to their website, https://www.osherfoundation.org/index.html
The Foundation’s National Resource Center at Northwestern University exists to help Osher Institutes thrive by connecting the 125 Osher Institutes to each other and to resources for higher education, lifelong learning, and purposeful aging. These connections foster collaborations, consultation, and celebration among the various member institutions.
The website includes information about all of the Osher Institutes across the country. The closest one to me is, of course, the program at William and Mary. But there are other Osher programs in Virginia – at the University of Richmond, Hampton University, the University of Virginia, and George Mason University. North Carolina also features several programs – at Duke and at the University of North Carolina (two programs – one in Chapel Hill and one in Wilmington).
During COVID, most of these programs offered online classes through Zoom. This had the effect of broadening the programs in a couple of ways. Members could join from outside of the program’s geographic area – several of my college classmates signed up to take my classes, which was a lot of fun. And instructors for other programs offered to teach classes for our program, which pleased our members as it meant increased scope and variety for courses we could offer. Some of these pandemic-driven collaborations are continuing and expanding, as the programs have come to understand the benefits of collaboration.
The Osher Program at William and Mary grew from the college’s Christopher Wren Association, which was started in 1991 by William & Mary professor Wayne Kernodle and his wife Ruth. In 2018, the program made the decision to affiliate with the Osher Foundation. This brought about some changes in the way the program operates, which, coupled with the COVID interruption to the program made for a rocky couple of years; however, the program is rebounding and thriving, with new instructors, new courses, and new members every year.
Interested in an Osher Institute near you? Check out the list of universities that host Osher Institutes here: https://www.osherfoundation.org/olli_list.html
Very cool.
So well done, Karen. Thanks!!