Fromm Institute Moves Into New Home at UCSF

For the past 30 years, thousands of intrepid retired people have navigated the University of San Francisco (USF) campus, finding their way to classrooms scattered around the campus.

Now, these students of the Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning have their own home. The Fromm Institute opened the doors of its very own site on campus - one uniquely designed to serve the needs of its unique student population - in mid-September.

The site, formerly known as Xavier Hall, which opened in 1959 as a Jesuit faculty residence, was officially re-christened the Alfred & Hanna Fromm Hall, after the Fromm Institute's late founders.

Conveniently located on the USF campus at its Parker Avenue entrance near the library and student center, Fromm Hall will house all of the classrooms for the Fromm Institute's 1,300 students. Fromm Hall has modern, accessible facilities and the latest technology. In addition to the new home of the Fromm Institute, the multipurpose space designed by San Francisco architect Moses Vaughan will include an undergraduate dormitory, classroom studios for USF's fine arts majors, and a day care center - a unique combination of programs that together create a diverse and dynamic intergenerational learning environment unlike any other in the Bay Area.

The Friends of the Fromm Institute conducted a successful $10 million capital campaign to finance the project. The effort was led by the Fromm family with support from individual donors. Actual construction costs totaled approximately $3.5 million, with the remaining $6.5 million being contributed to the USF general fund. The $10 million is the largest private gift ever made to USF.

"This will be a first-class facility for a first-class learning-in-retirement program," said Executive Director Robert Fordham. "It is a fine tribute to the founders and their family, and to the faculty, staff, students and friends who made it all happen."

Vaughan's design includes an 1,800-square-foot lobby and "commons court" surrounded by four classrooms. A glass ceiling offers a view of the dome of St. Ignatius Church. Outside, a garden terrace with outdoor seating faces the campus green. Xavier Chapel, also located in Fromm Hall, becomes the Fromm Institute's largest lecture space, capable of seating 220 people.

When not in use by the Fromm Institute, it will continue to serve the university ministry as a spiritual gathering space. Fromm Hall is designed specifically to meet the needs of the Institute's senior citizen student body. Each classroom is equipped with built-in sound systems, ceiling mounted projectors and large screens for clear displays. There are podiums with computer hook-ups and infra-red Sennheiser headphones for hearing-impaired students.

The entire facility has wireless Internet access and state-of-the art computer terminals, where students can enroll, add or drop a class, and print course-related materials.

The Fromm Institute celebrated the grand opening of Fromm Hall with a private reception for donors on Monday evening, Sept. 11. The official opening to the public was held at a "gala open house" on Sept. 13, just five days before Fall semester classes began at the private university.

The Fromm Institute was founded in 1976 by Hanna and Alfred Fromm as a daytime "university within a university." The institute offers non-credit courses of a high academic standard to the senior population of the Bay Area. Taught by faculty and retired professors, the curriculum is grounded in the humanities, arts and sciences.