Eckerd College just got $1-million from the Bernard Osher Foundation to establish an endowment for Eckerd's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), www.eckerd.edu/olli. The Osher Foundation also awarded the college $50,000 to support OLLI’s program operations in FY08, Eckerd officials announced this afternoon.

Eckerd's OLLI program provides non-credit learning opportunities for adults 50 and older throughout  Tampa Bay. OLLI members enjoy classes, forums, speaker series, special programs, and educational trips.

OLLI began as Senior College in 1997. In 2005, the name transitioned to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute after receiving a grant from the Osher Foundation, which supports dozens of other lifelong learning programs on college campuses throughout the United States.