The Programs
Osher Scholars and Fellows Program
The Osher Foundation supports scholarship programs at more than 250 colleges and universities around the country. The Osher Reentry Scholarship Program provides support for undergraduate students who have experienced a gap in their education of at least five years. Other Osher Scholarship programs, located in California and Maine for the most part, span every level of higher education: two-year community colleges, four-year undergraduate institutions, and conservatory and graduate schools. Nearly all of the Osher sites have been awarded permanent endowments in support of the program. The Osher Fellows Program currently underwrites activities of visiting scholars and experts at The California Academy of Sciences, the Exploratorium, and Human Rights Watch.
Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes Program
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes are found on the campuses of 125 colleges and universities from Maine to Hawaii and Alaska. Each provides a distinctive array of non-credit courses and activities specifically developed for seasoned adults aged 50 or older who are interested in learning for the joy of learning. The Foundation also provides support to the National Resource Center for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes at Northwestern University.
Osher Integrative Health Program
There are eleven integrative health programs receiving Osher support. They are found at the University of California, San Francisco; Harvard University with a clinical center at Brigham and Women's Hospital; the Karolinska Institute in Sweden; Northwestern University; Vanderbilt University; the University of Miami; the University of Washington; the University of Cincinnati; the University of Wisconsin-Madison; the University of Utah; and the University of Vermont. The programs feature research, education, and clinical care in integrative medicine, sometimes known as complementary medicine. The Foundation has also supported a career development award program for complementary medicine practitioners through the National Institutes of Health. A Coordinating Center for the Osher Collaborative for Integrative Health is housed at UCSF.
Local Arts and Educational Program
An array of arts and educational programs in the San Francisco Bay Area and in the State of Maine also receive support from the Foundation.