Description
These records document the establishment of the University of the Third Age at the University of San Diego. Established
in 1978, the USD University of the Third Age is a program for 55+ individuals to continue with lifelong education.
Background
The idea for an educational program for retired individuals, the University of the Third Age, was initially conceived by Pierre
Vellas, a professor at the University of Toulouse, France, in 1972. Vellas saw the growing number of elderly individuals in
France and believed that bringing them into the university environment among undergraduates, with intellectual stimulation
and physical exercise, would slow the negative effects of aging. Vellas' program involved volunteer participation by undergraduate
students; physical exercise through walking, jogging, swimming, and calisthenics; and lectures, roundtables, and field trips
covering a broad range of topics. Vellas' program had such success that by 1978 the program was copied in 32 campuses throughout
France and internationally in Switzerland, Belgium, Poland and Canada.