The Third Age at Harvard

The Third Age at Harvard is the first history of the HILR, and it has the distinction of being written by the founder, Dean Michael Shinagel, who established it in 1977 and watched it evolve over the years into a Harvard institution and a national model of excellence among learning-in-retirement institutes. At his retirement in 2013, Dean Shinagel was acknowledged as "the longest-serving dean in the history of Harvard," and in 2019, he was invited to join the HILR as a member by the current director/dean, Tess O'Toole. In writing his HILR history, Dean Shinagel had the advantage of a dual perspective, both from above as the longtime dean and from below as an active member participating in HILR study groups. The scope of his history covers the genesis of the idea for the Institute in 1976 until its move to new quarters under a new dean of continuing education and a new director/dean of the HILR in 2015. The history of the HILR is a story of the exceptional women and men whose dedication from the early years was matched by the directors who served them. From the 92 charter members in 1977, the HILR grew steadily to the 550 women and men who attend today, representing career fields in education, law, medicine, the arts, engineering, government, finance, science, business, the military, and public service. More than two out of five have Harvard affiliations through degrees, careers, spouses, or children, but the majority have undergraduate and graduate degrees from colleges and universities throughout the United States and several foreign countries. The HILR is diverse and cosmopolitan in every sense of the word, and the members are sui generis: they epitomize the motto that "learning never ends."