Emanuel Abramovits is a cultural manager and concert promoter based in Florida, with 25 years of professional experience organizing concerts by international artists in the US and South America. He is new to our OLLI but has been teaching for several OLLI institutions in five states for two years. Emanuel Abramovits has been a concert promoter since 2000, directly involved in many concerts by international artists, like Designed and staged many original orchestral events, including an Event of the Year winner and several world premiers. He served as the Cultural Director at UNION ISRAELITA DE CARACAS from 2008 to 2019, releasing books, organizing film cycles, concerts, and art exhibits. He has been consistently teaching for OLLI and other institutions online and in presence across the US in the last two years.
David Anderson was a professional disc jockey, music director, and program director in rock radio for more than 20 years. Along the way he interviewed many well-known artists, including Bruce Springsteen, Todd Rundgren, Chris Isaak, Boz Scaggs, Robert Cray, and Bruce Hornsby. David has written a number of articles about rock music, television, and the movies. He has been teaching in the OLLI program since 2016.
Barri Babow has a wildly diverse background. She has a MS in Information Systems, MA in History of Science and BS in Physics. Before grad school, she worked in the aerospace industry designing satellite software (remember Star Wars in the 1980s?). During grad school she was a TA in astronomy and computer science, among other jobs. After grad school, she worked in the tech industry doing systems analysis, project management and senior admin for Salesforce installations. All the IT work included developing and delivering training for users, technical support personnel and managers. Barri loves traveling, both around the US and around the world seeing new places and meeting new friends. She's an avid sportsperson (kayaking, paddle boarding, bicycling, cross country skiing) and has taught kayaking and paddle boarding.
James Baker earned a PhD in sociology and social psychology from the University of Utah. He is retired from an aerospace and business management career along with being an Adjunct Professor at UCLA and USC. He taught many college classes over a 20-year period. He has been an active genealogist for the past 15 years, specializing in German, DNA, and Research Methodology. He has written articles for the National Genealogical Society (NGS) Magazine, the NGS Quarterly, and Der Blumenbaum, the journal of the Sacramento German Genealogy Society. He has presented classes and webinars to many genealogy groups including the NGS,Southern California Jamboree, and Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
Harry Cohen has taught courses on American Leadership since 2016. He has also taught accounting and finance courses. He enjoys reading and classical music.
Linda Derosier has a BA in History with a minor in Drama and Theatre Arts from the University of Minnesota. She is a member of the AFI (American Film Institute) and student of film. She has been teaching for the OLLI program since 2010.
Michele Dodge holds a BS in Business Administration/Accounting from the University of the Pacific. Since retiring she has expanded her experience in Wildlife Photography and Wildlife Rescue.
Lori Fee first became interested in Tai Chi in the late 1990s. At that time, she was busy with her General Engineering construction corporation, but in 2010 she learned to teach, and has been teaching Tai Chi for the OLLI program at Sierra College ever since.
Jason File has a BA in European History and Religious Studies and an MA in Religious Studies, Ancient Mediterranean Religion from University of North Carolina. He is a full-time instructor in Humanities and Religious Studies at Sierra College.
Donald Fraser has a BS from UCLA in Political Science and a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration. His lifelong interest in American History and Politics has led him to teach classes on the founding of the United States.
Joan Griffin earned a BA in Psychobiology from UCLA and an MA in Contemplative Education from Naropa University. Joan worked at IBM and was a small business owner, then was an English and history teacher for 25 years.
Joseph Guida studied with world renowned T'ai Chi Master Da Liu in New York City in the 1980s. Joseph moved to Northern California and began teaching T’ai Chi for good health, relaxation and peace of mind.
Randy Humphreys has a Masters in Music Education from the University of Nevada, Reno and a Bachelors in Music from San Francisco State University. He retired from The Tahoe Truckee Unified School District in 2020, where he taught Band, and Jazz band. When not playing or teaching music, he can be found teaching skiing in the winter, and beaching in the summer. He lives in Truckee with his wife Hillary and their puppy, Penny.
Rebecca Inch Partridge works as a freelance editor, writing coach, writer, and guest lecturer. She has had numerous stories and articles published. She served as a first reader for the world’s oldest science fiction magazine, Amazing Stories and as a freelance blog writer for a biotechnology trade show company. She’s enjoyed critiquing manuscripts for over 20 years and has worked as a freelance editor for the last four years. Rebecca is an active member of Gold Country Writers and serves as their director of breakout critique groups.
Louise Johnson has a Bachelor of Science from Pennsylvania State University where she focused her studies on ecology and population genetics. She has been a high school teacher of biology, chemistry, physics and geology. She served as school principal, Assistant Superintendent and a 15-year veteran California school district superintendent.
Janice Kelley has a MS in Recreation, Parks and Tourism from CSU Sacramento. She brings a lifetime of writing experience to Life Writing and Nature Writing workshops. She has led writing workshops at senior centers, libraries, and schools. Her professional background includes writing for local and statewide magazines, nonprofit organizations, City of Rocklin, CA State Parks Sierra Nevada Conservancy and National Park Service.
Loydyne Lane is the current Pro Tem Foreperson and Business Manager of the 2022-2023 Nevada County Grand Jury and also represents the Outreach Committee of the Jury. She holds an MBA and it’s related teaching credential. Her career prior to the Jury was in banking and management consultant.
Irving Lubliner is a professor emeritus at Southern Oregon University (SOU), where his specialty was mathematics education. After receiving a BA in math from U.C. Berkeley and a Master of Arts in Teaching from U.C. Davis, he had a 40-year teaching career. He taught math at all levels, kindergarten through graduate school, led seminars for teachers in 39 states, and gave over 350 conference presentations, including several keynote addresses. Since retiring in 2014, he has taught math, blues harmonica, and literature classes for OLLI at SOU, where he also served on the Council of Directors. In 2019, he created Felabra Press and published his mother’s writings about her experiences during the Holocaust, the book that will serve as the theme for this presentation.
Brittney May has taught voice and directed choral ensembles of varied ages and sizes for over 15 years, spurred on by a passion for working with young professionals, students, and beginners. Before coming to Reno, she taught k-6 general music, band, and choir in Tucson, Arizona for four years. Brittney May graduated from Wartburg College (Waverly, IA) with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education in 2011. She earned her Master’s in Music Education from UNR in 2015.
Bob Murley has a Bachelor of Science Degree from Drexel University. His first job out of college was with the Apollo Program, as the chief engineer working on trajectory simulation. That was the beginning of a 50-year career in Computer Science from which he is now retired.
Trina Long has been a fitness instructor and personal trainer for over twenty years. She specializes in senior fitness.
Terence McAteer has a doctorate In Educational Administration from USF and a Master's Degree in History from San Francisco State. He has taught at the high school level and has been a history research fellow.
Joe Medeiros is a retired professor of biology/botany/ecology. He is retired Editor-in-Chief of the Sierra College Press. He was a National Park Ranger and has led hundreds of fieldtrips throughout the natural world. He is a genuine tree-hugger.
Lorin Miller has a Master’s degree from California State University and a distinguished background as a solo performer and choral director. He has performed nationally and internationally in a variety of styles ranging from Bach to Broadway.
Steve Miller has a BM and MM from CSU Sacramento. He is a retired faculty member from Sierra College.
Dr. Ken Moore is an ordained minister who studied history at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley (MA, MDiv), UC Davis, and McCormick School of Theology in Chicago (DMin). He has taught classes on the history of religion at Cotner College, and with OLLIs at the University of Nebraska and UC Davis.
John Panneton is a graduate of Boston College and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law (J.D.). He was a Federal Prosecutor for 16 years with the U.S. Department of Justice. He was a Criminal Defense attorney from 1991 to 2015. He has taught criminal justice courses at CSUS from 2006 through 2017 (full-time faculty) and at the University of California Davis from 2001-2003.
John Powers , M.F.A., is a writer and director with experience in theater and film. Drawing on recent U.S. history as source material for a number of his productions, he has also developed this material into provocative classroom engagements, such as Nixon and the Pentagon Papers, 1968: The Year That Rocked, and Pearl Harbor Reconsidered.
Judie Rae has a BA in English and a MA in Professional Writing from University of Southern California. She has 25 years of teaching experience at universities and Community college and is a freelance writer.
Susan Rogers is retired from both a 45-year career in marketing communications and public relations, and a 10-year volunteer stint as editor/publisher of a media literacy education website. She’s spent the last eight years doing genealogy research and is a popular speaker for numerous foothills genealogy societies.
Winslow Rogers earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University in English and American Literature and was a full-time professor for ten years. He specialized in Victorian novelists like George Eliot, W. M. Thackeray and Henry James.
Ellen Sander has a BA and MA in French, a BA in Government, and an MA in International Affairs. She has taught for the UC Davis French Department and has been an OLLI instructor for six years.
Sam Schlafer has worked in the library field since 2001, working for both the DOD/Air Force and now at the Twelve Bridges library. He has taught classes for seniors, written about pop culture and is a member of the AFI.
Anney Siegel-Wamsat has a BA in English from UC Berkeley. She fell in love with Tai Chi and has been training to teach with Sifu Renee Neal. She is excited to begin teaching the Advanced Tai Chi for the OLLI program.
Teri Umhauer has degrees in Product and Fashion Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Art and Fashion History have always been passions and particularly when they come together. She teaches Fashion at Sierra and American River Colleges.
Wayland Whitney is a conductor and violist from Northern California and has a BA in Viola from UC Davis and a MA in Conducting from SUNY Fredonia in New York. He co-founded the Placer County Youth Orchestra in Roseville and is currently director of Music in the Mountains in Nevada County. He is the conductor for the OLLI Orchestra in Nevada County.
Alex Yarmolyuk was born and lived in Soviet Ukraine for 25 years. He finished his BA in General Business at Nova Kakhovka, Ukraine, and served his mandatory two years in the Soviet military. In 1996, he emigrated to the United States.