Welcome to SMC Emeritus!
Dear Emeritus Community,
Hello spring! As the weather starts to warm, I welcome you to another exciting semester at SMC Emeritus!
As 2026 kicks into gear, excitement abounds. I want to bring to your attention two wonderful Emeritus projects that have come to fruition after years of work: The Stromberg Living History Series, and the fabulous, first-ever Fifty Over 50 list now available on our Emeritus website for your reading pleasure.
The Fifty Over 50 list has been a brainchild of mine ever since I started at SMC as the Associate Dean of Emeritus. I wanted to find ways to celebrate and honor older adults in our lives, as well as celebrate lifelong learning, and this list was the answer. As we publish this first list of awesome individuals who capture the essence of why the Emeritus Program is so important to so many, I encourage you to check out each of their stories and their pearl of wisdom to their younger selves. Some will give you a chuckle, but others…well, you might just want to share them with the young people in your lives.
You’ll notice that one of the Fifty Over 50 is Professor Harvey Stromberg. I am happy to announce that two more short films from The Stromberg Living History Series were completed this past June by students from SMC’s Media 21 class. These two new shorts featured Gordon Blitz and Bob Stern; neither are strangers to those who are familiar with the Emeritus Program. To date, a total of six living history shorts has been produced since 2024; and by the start of spring 2026, we will have two new ones to share with you. Thanks to Mitzi Blahd, whose generous donations made this project possible, we can now bring these captivating personal sagas to life, preserved in film, so that they can continue telling their stories and inspire those who come after them.
It is so satisfying to know that, whether as a participant of the Emeritus Program, or as someone who works with the program, we are in the company of amazing folks whose fascinating life experiences still have so much to give, and so much we can learn from. This is what drives me and my staff each day as we work to make the Emeritus Program better this year than the last.
Enjoy the spring!
Dr. Scott C. Silverman
Dean, Noncredit & External Programs
