How We Got Started
Irwin Shaw, Founder
By Irwin Shaw, Founder (1985)
The Institute for Retired Professionals (IRP) came into being in response to a developing need in our community. While the Center had always provided many excellent programs for the senior adults in the Jewish community, these programs did not meet the needs of the retired professionals who were making up a larger percentage of our older adult population every year. Theirs was generally an interest in more intellectually focused activities and this interest was brought to the Center's attention by a number of such retirees.
Early in 1985, Dr. Morton Plotnick, Executive Director of the Agency, shared his concern about this matter with me and asked if I had any suggestions. I told him that I did know of a program that I thought might serve as a model. It was the Institute for Retired Professionals at the New School for Social Research in New York. He asked me if, as a retired professional myself, I would volunteer to help get such a program started at our Center. I told him that I'd be glad to do so on one condition: that the Center engage a well-trained and experienced professional to provide the staff support for such a project. He agreed to do so.
Fortunately, exactly the kind of person we needed was available. Judy Samson was already working for the Senior Adult Department, so in April 1985 she was available to take on this assignment. Judy and I began to survey existing programs for retired professionals in both university and non-university settings.
We were able to recruit a Steering Committee of seven people From among those who expressed a willingness to help. The Steering Committee held its first meeting on May 1, 1985 and met weekly for the next several months. We shared with them all the information we had gathered and sought their reactions and suggestions. A major advance took place on May 24, when Judy and I attended a Convocation Day program of the Institute for Retired Professionals at the New School for Social Research in New York.
When we returned, we gave the Steering Committee a Full report on what we learned in New York. Undoubtedly, the most important thing we learned From the New York model, and the one agreed upon by our committee, was the emphasis on peer learning through ״Facilitator-led groups" rather than the "teacher-directed classes."
Judy had also gathered material that described various programs for retired professionals all over the country. For the next several months the Steering Committee reviewed this material, came up with a set of guiding principles, and began the process of establishing a Facilitators Committee, a Governing Body and an Activities Committee.
The first open meeting of IRP was held on September 5, 1985. Over 120 people attended this meeting and participated in an in-depth analysis of the proposals presented by the Steering Committee.
On September 26, the Facilitator’s Committee met and completed plans for the establishment of the first five specific study groups. The availability of these groups was announced at the official organizational meeting of IRP on October 14. All five of the groups began meeting the week of November 4, 1985, and IRP was off and running.
Fast Forward 38 Years
Following three and a half years of Covid, and IRP never missing a beat; immediately IRP began using what was a truly new technology of communicating, Zoom, they continued to meet weekly with most of their discussion groups. Without a break, the organization was one of few to continue to remain active during these years of lock-down and virtual meetings. In August 2023, the Officers and Board of Directors had their first in-person meeting, and it was at this meeting they decided that in the best interest of the group, to become an independent organization. On September 12, 2023, IRP Detroit received their Michigan Articles of Incorporation and on October 10, 2023, the US IRS determined that IRP Detroit is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
And so we now continue to grow as we will begin celebrating our 40th year as IRP Detroit, an Innovative Resourceful Provocative Life-Long Learning organization for people, age 50+.
