Message from the Dean: Congratulations, Susan Hoffman

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I am delighted to announce that Susan Hoffman has been appointed UC Berkeley’s first Assistant Dean of Lifelong Learning, continuing her leadership of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UC Berkeley. OLLI is a part of Berkeley’s Division of Extended Education (SSALLEX) that also includes Summer Sessions, Study Abroad and University Extension.

 

Assistant Dean Hoffman came to UC Berkeley in April 2007, to re-envision OLLI and to amplify its programming and connection with campus. Susan has succeeded in doing both. With a curriculum of 100+ courses each year, OLLI @Berkeley is a national leader in developing hybrid learning platforms where some OLLI members and faculty are together in a live classroom while others attend via livestream at home. Many of these hybrid courses are also recorded and offered as THE BEST OF OLLI, a curated archive of OLLI’s most popular pre-recorded courses.

 

Additionally, OLLI sponsors the Berkeley faculty speaker series, a social and racial justice series "America’s Unfinished Work", a monthly Vital Aging series, and the biannual “Words Over Time” intergenerational dialogue which brings together Berkeley undergraduates and OLLI members. OLLI was the recipient of a National Science Foundation grant with its partners the Fung Fellowship, which is part of the Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership and the Lawrence Hall Science to assess the impact of STEM learning on older adult advocacy.

 

Prior to leading OLLI@Berkeley, Hoffman was the founding director of the Osher Institute at San Francisco State University. A filmmaker and theater producer, Hoffman was the founding director of the People's Theater in San Francisco at Fort Mason Center and the executive director of the statewide California Confederation of the Arts.

 

“Extended Education is leading a campaign to enhance revenue generating programs for campus, to increase the caliber of excellence in teaching, and to create a learning environment where everyone feels that they belong” says Dean Rick Russo, “Under Susan’s leadership, OLLI is always reaching for excellence, relevance and access in serving lifelong learners and contributing to these campus wide efforts.”