MILWAUKEE _ Chancellor Mark Mone announced today that The Bernard Osher Foundation, a private foundation based in San Francisco, has awarded an additional $1 million to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a program of UWM’s School of Continuing Education. To date, the foundation has contributed nearly $3.7 million to the university, the majority of which has gone to the institute, which offers socially interactive, engaging and intellectually stimulating experiences for adults 50 and above.
“We are grateful to the foundation for their longtime support that has allowed us to offer this valuable program to the community,” Mone said. “The institute at UWM has seen tremendous growth since receiving its initial funding in 2008, both in terms of doubling its membership and tripling its program offerings in recent years.”
Each year, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UWM provides its 1,400 members with more than 250 courses and programs that range from foreign language and literature to travel excursions, both local and abroad. For many mature learners, the institute offers a chance to explore something new that wasn’t part of their careers or daily lives.
“We salute the university’s leadership and staff as well as the institute’s remarkable volunteers for developing an outstanding program of great variety,” Osher Foundation president Mary Bitterman said. “The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UWM consistently provides older adults in the Milwaukee area with a broad array of meaningful and enriching educational opportunities. We are delighted to provide this additional support.”
The foundation supports 119 Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes around the country, and each is connected to a prominent institution of higher education. While UW-Milwaukee’s is the only Osher program in Wisconsin, others in the region include those hosted by Northwestern University, the University of Minnesota and the University of Michigan.
UWM has been fortunate to receive multiple gifts from the foundation thanks to the success of its program. “We are grateful to Bernard Osher and the foundation for helping this program grow and meet a need in the community,” said Kim Beck, executive director of the institute. “The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UWM is a true gem in Milwaukee.”
For more information about the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UWM, please visit uwm.edu/sce-osher.