Kathryn Williams, Director
kfw@illinois.edu
Kathryn Williams became the Director of OLLI at Illinois in June 2021. Prior to moving to Illinois, she lived in Buffalo, NY where she was a professor and chair of the classics department at Canisius College.
Kathryn received her BA in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her MA and PhD in classical philology from the University of Virginia. She taught in the classical studies department at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro before moving to Buffalo.
In 2017 Kathryn co-founded the Institute for Classical and Medieval Studies with a classics colleague. The institute serves as a consortium of faculty from the departments of art history, religious studies and theology, philosophy, history, and English to collaborate with one another and students in the different departments who share interdisciplinary interests. As director of the institute Kathryn also established a lifelong learning program for people in the Buffalo community to take courses from institute faculty and to attend lectures presented by faculty and students. The joy of her experience with lifelong learners and learning led her to explore Osher Lifelong Learning institutes and to OLLI at Illinois.
Read the Letter from the Director
Beth Kirchgesner, Educational Engagement Director
kirchgesner@illinois.edu
OLLI's new Educational Engagement Director, Beth Kirchgesner, started at OLLI in early January. Beth earned her degree in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has worked at the University for more than 16 years where she has earned University awards for her public engagement program coordination. At OLLI Beth will work directly with members and instructors and use her expertise in community outreach to strengthen OLLI's community engagement. Beth is quickly learning the ropes and will be connecting with members in the coming weeks. Her office is located at the end of the hall in the staff suite. Feel free to stop by and say hello! Welcome, Beth!!
Janet Summers, Membership Coordinator
jis@illinois.edu
OLLI is delighted to welcome Janet back to work part-time to support our members and member programs. Welcome back, Janet!