LEWISTON — Kali Lightfoot, executive director of the National Resource Center for Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes, Portland, will be the presenter at the USM Lewiston-Auburn Senior College “Food for Thought” 11:30 a.m. luncheon on Friday, Sept. 13.

Her topic will be “50 Years and Counting: A National Perspective on the Past, Present and Future of Lifelong Learning Institutes.”

Senior Colleges in Maine are part of a national movement of lifelong learning institutes that have contributed to seeing changes in the way society views the learning capacity of people over age 50.

Maine is the only state with an established network of lifelong learning institutes (the Maine Senior College Network), and Maine also hosts the National Resource Center for 117 Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes at universities in all 50 states. The University of Southern Maine is the home of the first Senior College and the first Osher Institute.

Those attending will learn how and why this new form of adult learning started, and what the future of Senior College and Osher Institutes might look like in Maine and in America as a whole.

Lightfoot holds a BA from Western Michigan University and an MS from the University of Washington. She was on the management staff at Elderhostel (now known as Road Scholar) for more than 20 years, holding positions in the domestic, international and service learning divisions. She has also taught in high school and college, served as director of International Elder Programs for the Experiment in International Living and as a Wilderness Ranger for the U.S. Forest Service.

Lightfoot was director of the Senior College at University of Southern Maine (USM), which later became the first OLLI. In 2004, USM was chosen by the Osher Foundation to create and manage the National Resource Center for the OLLIs, with Lightfoot as its founding director.

She is a graduate of Leadership Maine and is past chairwoman of the Lifetime Education and Renewal Network of the American Society on Aging. She is a member of the Health, Physical Education and Recreation Alumni Honor Academy at WMU, and was given a Golden Apple award by the WMU College of Education.

Lightfoot is studying for an MFA in poetry at the Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Lewiston-Auburn Senior College, celebrating 15 years, presents the monthly luncheon program in Function Room 170 at USM LAC. The cost, which includes lunch, is $7 with advance reservation or $8 at the door. Reservations must be made by noon Thursday, Sept. 12, by calling 753-6510. Any late callers will be considered “at the door.”