Instructor Awards
OLLI Honors Veteran Instructors
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Teaching Awards for 25+ classes February 2020
Two teaching awards have been given to instructors who have taught 25 or more classes for OLLI. This special recognition is rare: in the 43-year-history of OLLI, fewer than 5% of instructors have taught at least this many courses. Melanie Crain has been a Mac computer user for over 30 years. At OLLI she started teaching iWorks and other courses using iOS. She also has co-taught Photoshop Elements. More recently she has concentrated on courses about the iPad, a device that has become her go-anywhere computer. Last Spring Melanie combined her computer skills with her interest in genealogy to teach “MacOS Numbers for Genealogy: A Spreadsheet Workshop.” This year as Margo Fariss Brewer was unable to teach her genealogy courses, Melanie stepped in to assist Beth Balkite in teaching Genealogy VI, beginning and intermediate courses in “Applying DNA to Your Family Tree,” to keep these popular courses going at OLLI at Duke. Thomas Thorne is accredited through the Court of Master Sommeliers and has been a professional sommelier for twenty-five years. He owns Wine Fifty Five, a local wine consulting company focused on education, sales, and sommelier services. He has headed wine programs at the Fearrington House, the Carolina Inn, and the Siena Hotel. He is a previous owner of the Hope Valley Bottle Shop. From the beginning of his OLLI teaching, his wine tasting courses have been so popular that we have needed two sections for each class. We send a big “thank you” to both Melanie and Thomas for sharing their expertise with us and for their contributions to OLLI at Duke over the years. |
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 Virginia Knight, Dot Wilbur-Brooks, Chris McLeod
Dot Wilbur-Brooks is given an award for having taught 25 classes for OLLI by Instructor Relations Committee Chair Virginia Knight and OLLI Director Chris McLeod.
Long-Time Instructors Recognized
Five long-time OLLI instructors recently received Certificates of Appreciation from OLLI Director Chris McLeod for reaching the milestone of 25 classes taught. In the 42-year history of Lifelong Learning at Duke, fewer than 5% of the instructors have taught at least 25 classes, so Harriet Sander, Dot Wilbur-Brooks, Henry Blinder, Richard Ellman and Ric Shepherd are joining an elite group. Please join us in congratulating these instructors on their accomplishments.
Harriet Sander has devoted her life to helping others, first as a psychologist and then, after retiring and moving to Durham, as a Guardian ad Litem representing children in the court system. About 12 years ago she joined Tony Waraksa as a partner in facilitating and hosting the OLLI Science Symposia series. In the following years she has recruited and hosted speakers and otherwise participated in the planning and arrangements for the Symposia. This term she is a co- facilitator for the 25th term. Dot Wilbur-Brooks was Program Director for the North Carolina Botanical Garden where she worked for thirty-one years. She did botanical illustration for several books for the Garden and during many of these years she taught nature illustration classes as well. After her retirement she continued her teaching both at the Garden and then later for OLLI at Duke. For most of the last 12 years, she has taught her popular nature illustration courses both Fall and Winter Terms at OLLI. And, now in Fall Term 2019, she is teaching her 25th course, “Flora and Fauna in Mixed Media,” for OLLI students. Henry Blinder, Richard Ellman, and Ric Shepherd have all been organizers, facilitators and discussion leaders for “The World Today” class at least 25 times. Henry Blinder has a JD degree from Duke University Law School. He was Deputy Attorney General for the State of New Jersey before moving to Durham over 35 years ago. Here he was City Attorney for the City of Durham for many years prior to his retirement. He is also a Past President of the North Carolina Association of Municipal Attorneys. He has served as a facilitator for The World Today for 28 terms. Richard Ellman is a retired New York Certified Public Accountant who moved to Durham over 10 years ago. He has been an OLLI at Duke member for all the time he has lived in the Triangle area and he has served as an Advisory Board member, Treasurer, and then President. He is also a recipient of the OLLI at Duke Bill Wright Award for particularly outstanding service as a Volunteer for OLLI at Duke over many years. Richard considers himself a “news junkie” and has served as a facilitator of The World Today for 26 terms. Ric Shepherd, originally from the Boston area, was a Certified Public Accountant for over 30 years. Since 1988 he has lived and practiced in the Triangle area, where his specialty was financial consulting to businesses. He also taught at Wake County Community College from which he recently retired. He has served as a facilitator for The World Today at OLLI for 27 terms.
Three long-time OLLI instructors recently received Certificates of Appreciation from OLLI Director, Chris McLeod, for reaching major teaching milestones. Billy Yeargin and Jay Dunbar reached a 50-course milestone and Ken Hoover reached a 25course milestone. To put this in context, in the 42-year history of OLLI, fewer than 5% of instructors have taught 25 times and fewer than 1% have taught 50 times. Please join us in congratulating these long-time instructors on their accomplishments!
Read more about these wonderful OLLI instructors below:
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Previous Recipients
50 Courses
25 Courses
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