UTMB’s Academy for Lifelong Learning garners $100,000 grant from Osher Foundation

Program fosters love of learning among senior citizens

GALVESTON, Texas — What started in 2002 as a personal enrichment pilot program that offered three college-level courses to Galveston County senior citizens has significantly grown in popularity to now feature 12 classes that include participants from the Houston area. Such acclaim for the University of Texas Medical Branch’s Academy for Lifelong Learning has not gone unnoticed. The program recently received a $100,000 grant from The Bernard Osher Foundation, a San Francisco-based philanthropy.

An initiative of the university’s Sealy Center on Aging and Geriatric Services, the program is a community outreach effort offering those over age 55 an opportunity to grow intellectually and socially. Participants’ spouses who are younger than 55 may also attend classes.

Enrollees are offered college-level, semester-length courses, regardless of their educational background. The two-hour classes are typically held weekly for eight weeks. Some are offered twice a week for four weeks. No tests are taken or grades given; the classes merely give seniors the chance to learn together and discuss issues of interest with a local expert. For example, course topics for the spring 2005 session include tsunamis, foods for wellness, Shakespeare’s Hamlet and writing one’s life stories.

Michelle Sierpina, founding director of the academy, said the incredible growth of the senior program clearly reflects a need for such services in the community. “We’ve become more energized as we worked to make this possible,” Sierpina said. “The enthusiasm and response from the learners was our support and encouragement. The Osher Foundation supports a national movement because the entire country is peopled by those hungry for lifelong learning.”

Added UTMB President John D. Stobo, “The lifelong learning program provides an invaluable resource for seniors in the Houston/Galveston area, helping them live independently and with an awareness of their creative, intellectual and spiritual contributions to their communities. We look forward to the growth and expansion that the Osher Foundation’s generosity is sure to bring.”

UTMB’s program, which will be renamed the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, is one of 61 such institutes across the nation that have received support from the Osher Foundation. In this latest round of funding from the philanthropy, UTMB was among 13 universities to receive lifelong learning institute grants, including Harvard, Northwestern, Rutgers and the University of Texas at El Paso. The grants signify that the Osher Foundation may award $1 million endowments to the universities to perpetually support the institutes if the programs experience substantial growth for up to three years.

Services offered by lifelong learning institutes will be essential as our population ages. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services statistics indicate that the number of senior citizens in the United States will double between now and 2030, growing to nearly 68 million. According to the Texas Department on Aging, the state will have more than 8 million residents aged 60 or older by 2040. By that time the number of elderly residents is expected to constitute 23 percent of Texas’ entire population. Research has shown that learning can enhance the well-being of elders. A study at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine revealed that even one hour a day of cognitive activities, such as reading and word games, delayed dementia in people ages 75 and older.

Dr. James S. Goodwin, director of UTMB’s Sealy Center on Aging, said he appreciated the Osher Foundation’s commitment to senior citizens. “The U.S. Census estimates that by 2050 there may be as many as 4 million people 100 years old and older in this country,” said Goodwin, the George and Cynthia Mitchell Distinguished Chair in Geriatric Medicine. “Lifelong learning academies will be indispensable in helping these and other elderly citizens maintain their cognitive skills.”

Sierpina said the Osher Foundation grant is welcome validation for the vital role the lifelong learning program plays in the lives of seniors. “Lifelong learning institutes fill an important and unique niche,” she said. “Funding from the Osher Foundation has invigorated our enthusiasm. It’s encouraging to know that what we’re building can be sustained.”

Sierpina was equally appreciative of the support she has received from UTMB, including seed money from the Sealy Center on Aging and grants from the President’s Cabinet, an organization that provides financial resources to help advance the mission of the university. It comprises Houston-Galveston area community and business leaders, UTMB faculty and staff, and alumni from across Texas and beyond. Sierpina said the President’s Cabinet funding helped secure the grant from the Osher Foundation. The Moody Memorial First United Methodist Church Permanent Endowment Fund of Galveston, the Grant Family Foundation, and academy instructors and students have also supported the program.

Sierpina’s appreciation for the community’s response to the academy may only be surpassed by the enjoyment of those who have benefited from the program. One learner commented, “The classes give me a reason to get up, meet people, have fun and learn all at the same time. I’d come home exhausted, but it was an exhilarating exhaustion.”

For more information about UTMB’s Academy for Lifelong Learning, visit online at www.utmb.edu/aging/outreach/ALL or contact Sierpina at (409) 747-4657 or msierpin@utmb.edu.

Established in 1977 by businessman and community leader Bernard Osher, the Osher Foundation seeks to improve quality of life for residents of the San Francisco Bay Area and Mr. Osher’s native state of Maine through an extensive higher-education scholarship program and arts and humanities grants. At the national level, the foundation also supports selected programs in integrative medicine as well as the growing network of Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes.

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