11:20 a.m., Sept. 10, 2009----The Academy of Lifelong Learning at the University of Delaware has received a grant of $100,000 from The Bernard Osher Foundation, a San Francisco-based philanthropic organization that seeks to improve the quality of life through support for higher education and the arts.

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The Academy of Lifelong Learning, which has facilities on UD's Wilmington campus, will receive $80,000 from this grant. Another $20,000 will be used by the University's Southern Delaware Academy of Lifelong Learning, which is located in Lewes.

The award also gives the two Delaware academies access to the Osher network, a premier lifelong learning association composed of more than 115 such institutes located at colleges and universities nationwide.

“The Osher Foundation has long admired the work of the University of Delaware's Academy of Lifelong Learning under the able leadership of Ruth Flexman,” noted Mary Bitterman, foundation president. “We are confident that this fine program will contribute to and benefit from the national experience represented by the Osher Institute network.”

"The Bernard Osher Foundation is well known for its outstanding philanthropic work, seeking to improve the quality of life through support for higher education and lifelong learning, and the University of Delaware is pleased to be a partner through the Academy of Lifelong Learning," UD President Patrick Harker said. "We appreciate our ongoing relationship, one that provides our lifelong learners with the finest in educational opportunities."

“The University is excited about the $100,000 gift from The Bernard Osher Foundation to support our Academy of Lifelong Learning in Wilmington and Lewes,” James Broomall, assistant provost for professional and continuing studies, said. “The funding also lays the groundwork for potential future support from the Osher Foundation of a total endowment award of $2 million, contingent upon completion of the name change from the of the Academy of Lifelong Learning to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Delaware.”

Earnings from the proposed gift will help support academy operations, with the potential to minimize annual increases to membership fees.

While the names of the two academies would change should future funding be realized, their mission, governance structure and programs would remain unchanged by their association with the Osher network.

“Joining the network of Osher Lifelong learning Institutes enables us to engage in a national dialog about the importance and value of learning across the lifespan with colleagues from similar programs at universities like Johns Hopkins, Penn State, Duke and UCLA,” Broomall said. “The exchange of ideas regarding the dynamics of learning-in-retirement programs will enrich the experience of the academy's more than 2,000 members.”

The academy, which listed 14 courses on its schedule in 1980, now offers more than 200 courses, taught by volunteer faculty to members age 50 and older. The average age of members is 70.

The Southern Delaware Academy of Lifelong Learning also has seen a significant growth that parallels the increasing popularity of Sussex County as a retirement haven. Ruth Makin, public relations volunteer for the Southern Delaware Academy of Lifelong Learning, said the Osher Foundation grant of $20,000 has been warmly received among academy members in Sussex County.

“Our academy has grown from under 100 students in the early days to more than 400 students, and this fall we are offering our largest curricula, with 67 courses, all taught by volunteer instructors,” Mankin said. “The Osher Foundation support will enrich and enable our ongoing process, and our goal of learning for the joy of learning will be made available to even more lifelong learners.”

Don Grimes, chairperson of the Academy Council, said the foundation grant enhances the academy's efforts to communicate more broadly with other lifelong learning schools.

“The Osher Foundation vigorously supports lifelong learning, and they have provided grants for many such institutions,” Grimes said. “Because the grant will help us interact with other member institutions, we think that this is a positive step for us.”

Grimes said it is particularly important to communicate with other lifelong learning institutions as the academy starts to look at how to develop courses for the next generation of lifelong learners.

“A lot of us grew up with paper, and we have to realize that paper is not going to be the way to communicate at large to the next generation of lifelong learners,” Grimes said. “We want to have things that are responsive to these people, and we need to have the facilities to be able to do this.”

The grant is especially important to help meet the needs of the growing membership in the Southern Delaware Academy of Lifelong Learning, Grimes said.

“The added revenue stream will be shared with the Southern Delaware Academy of Lifelong Learning,” Grimes said. “This will help to enrich lifelong learning in that area and reinforce the University of Delaware's position there as a primary source of education for people ages 18-98 and beyond.”

Article by Jerry Rhodes