SIR Bidwell Branch 110 July 27, 2026
Our July luncheon speaker will be Paul Coots who will talk about continuing education
at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI).
The Bernard Osher Foundation was established in 1977 by Bernard Osher, a San Francisco
businessman and community leader, who perceived that the needs of mature students were
not well served by traditional continuing education programs. The Foundation supports
the strengthening of existing lifelong learning programs, as well as the creation of
new ones, at colleges and universities across the country. The Foundation began its
support of such programs in 2001 with grants to Sonoma State University in California
and the University of Southern Maine at Portland.
In 2005, Chico State joined the network of Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes and our
existing learning-in-retirement program became known as the Osher Lifelong Learning
Institute at Chico State.
Paul Coots
Paul has been an OLLI member and volunteer for many years. He leads a popular fitness class, for which there is a wait list every term! Paul enjoys both the learning and social elements of OLLI, and he has recently joined the volunteer leadership team (OLLI Advisory Council) to help grow membership and generate new programming ideas.