Tim Meehan builds community for adults over age 50
Learning doesn’t stop after getting a degree, and Tim Meehan understands the value of continuing education.
As executive director of Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Georgia, known as OLLI@UGA, Meehan helps create a dynamic learning and social community for adults over age 50.
“OLLI@UGA gives people a social and intellectual community to be part of,” he said. “It’s a good way for people to network, to get involved and to feel connected to learning and to each other.”
Meehan’s own educational journey took him to university at King’s College London. He then worked for St Andrew Holborn, a historic site, working church and events space. During his 12 years there, he also developed an additional service as a consultant with local nonprofits.
When Meehan and his family moved to the U.S. in 2016, Georgia felt like the perfect place to be closer to his wife’s family in Gainesville. Meehan attended his first UGA football game in 2008 and had an eye on the university since then. He began working with OLLI@UGA in 2016.
“It felt like a good opportunity to bring the organization forward,” he said.
What drew Meehan to OLLI@UGA was the combination of nonprofit work within a university setting and learning environment. OLLI@UGA began in 1994 as Learning in Retirement. It is one of 125 Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes of The Bernard Osher Foundation, each affiliated with a college or university across the country. The OLLI@UGA leadership includes Meehan and four other full- and part-time staff, along with member-elected officers, board members and committee chairs.
“We are member-led and run,” he said.
OLLI@UGA, housed in the Mary Frances Early College of Education, comprises more than 1,000 members. Those members can participate in social events, travel and study adventures, special interest groups for everything from hiking to film and book discussions, and more than 350 non-credit courses ranging from literature to social sciences to personal finance. For example, this fall’s offerings include a class on Mexican cinema and a class focusing on India with the hope of organizing a future trip there.
“It is social learning. It is being with other people, whether that is virtually or actually in the same room,” he said. “You learn from other people and keep those interactive and networking skills.”
And that, Meehan said, is the deeper social purpose of OLLI@UGA.
“There is a need for people who leave the workplace to still be tied in to their local communities,” he said. “Being around like-minded adults and being around curious adults gives you that space to be you.”
Meehan provides advocacy, communication and strategic direction for OLLI@UGA. He also leads the committees and reports back to the board. He serves as a resource for members and volunteers, supporting their efforts behind the scenes. He regularly attends meetings and recruits members and volunteers at events like OLLI Fest.
Meehan also enjoys being at the head of the classroom. Last fall, he taught a class on paleography, the study of manuscripts, and he’s leading a class on the fall of the Roman republic this year.
“We are a way for them to feel independent, to feel seen, to feel like they’re still enjoying life,” he said. “Those are the stories that make it much more fun to come to work because you know you’re actually making a big difference to individual people’s lives.”
In his own life, Meehan enjoys running and dancing the Lindy Hop and aims to spend more time writing all while raising three young children. But his work certainly matters to him.
“It is something that makes me smile and touches on a need to make a difference,” he said.