Clarke Bennett (The History of Surgery) developed an avid interest in the history of surgery over the course of his more than thirty-year career in hospital management dealing with surgeons, nurses, and operating rooms at six different medical centers in Kansas, Missouri, and Colorado. He earned his BA in history at Monmouth College in Illinois and his MA in management and human resources at the University of Phoenix.

Richard Brown (Opera's Hidden Humor) earned his bachelor's degree in music education from Boston University and his master's in music history and theory from the University of Connecticut. He spent the most important thirty-nine years of his teaching career in the public schools of Connecticut and Massachusetts, mostly at the secondary level, directing choruses and introducing students to their musical potential and heritage. During these years he directed musical theatre productions, including many of Broadway's best-known musicals. Richard has also taught music courses at American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts, and for the last ten years, following his retirement, at the University of Maine's Hutchinson Center in Belfast. He lives in Stockton Springs with his wife Diana Brookes Brown, a well-known flutist and teacher in the area.

Bill Cressey (Mind Games: Searching for Patterns of Meaning) is a professor emeritus from Georgetown University where he served, successively, as associate dean for international education, director of international programs, and chairman of the Spanish department. He has taught courses based on Gödel, Escher, Bach both at Georgetown and the University of Maryland Honors Program. Before retiring to Belfast, he served as chief academic officer of the Council on International Educational Exchange which is headquartered in Portland.

Chris Glass (Creating a New Reality: Four Bold Architects) grew up in Washington, D.C., and earned a degree in philosophy from Haverford College and his master's in architecture from Yale University. Since 1974 he has been a practicing architect in Camden, focusing primarily on new houses and renovations to existing ones. He is former chairman of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, past president of the advocacy group Maine Preservation, and for twenty years he taught at Bowdoin College.

Dianna Herbert (Getting Comfortable with Your iPad and iMac) earned her BA in mathematics from University of Maine at Orono and is currently working on her master's degree in instructional technology. When she's not attending classes, she consults with private clients about computer issues, though she is better known around Senior College as one of the Hutchinson Center's very capable technology support specialists who comes to the rescue when other faculty members need help. "I love to troubleshoot," she says, "and I love helping people learn how to handle computer problems on their own."

Charlotte Herbold (Arthur Miller: Three Plays for the Wise) retired from the University of Maine after a twenty-five-year teaching career there. She has been a teacher and an actor for forty years-in Berkeley, California, at Orono, and in Belfast with the Belfast Maskers since 1993. She holds degrees in English and theater from Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Maine, and has taught several popular theater classes at Senior College. "The play is the thing!" she insists. "Nothing else is half as much fun."

Randy Mailloux (Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Wills, Trusts, and Probate) has practiced law in Waldo County for more than thirty years. He grew up in Belfast and earned his degrees from the University of Maine at Orono and Gonzaga University School of Law in Spokane, Washington. From 1997 through 2004 he served as Waldo County Probate Judge. He has also served as president of the Waldo County Bar Association, Maine State representative to the National College of Probate Judges, and is a former member of the Maine Probate Judges Assembly. Involved in many civic organizations over the years, he recently spearheaded the formation of a Habitat for Humanity affiliate in Waldo County and now serves as chairman of its board.

Tom McCarthy (Terrorism: Views of Its Root Causes), a graduate of Northeastern University and a Viet Nam veteran, is a retired US Secret Service special agent. Since 1995, he has traveled worldwide-including to war zones-for the Department of State lecturing and providing training to host countries' security forces. He has also lectured extensively for other entities including John Jay College of Criminal Justice. McCarthy has recently retired to Camden. Besides terrorism, he lectures on protective services, another area in which he has had personal experience.

Lila Nation (Intermediate Conversational French) has not only earned a master's degree in teaching French and taught French for over twenty-six years, but she also tries to travel to France once a year to stay fluent in idioms and changing vocabulary, as well as taking frequent trips to Québec and other French-speaking regions. She also plays cello, piano, and sings, so she'll regale you with music and stories of her travels while encouraging you to share your own experiences using the mellifluous medium of French.

Ellie O'Leary (Digging into Your Roots to Give Your Stories Wings) is a writer and teacher who grew up in the Waldo County village of Freedom. As much as she likes to share her writing by publishing it, she also loves to share what she knows about the process of writing. Besides teaching here at Senior College, she offers a writing workshop at a retreat center in the Adirondacks and hosts The Writer's Forum on WERU-FM.

John Piotti (Farming in Maine) has been studying and working with Maine agricultural issues for the past seventeen years. From 1995 to 2006 he managed all the farm programs for Coastal Enterprises, Inc., Maine's premiere community development organization. He has served as chair of the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group and a director of the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture. From 2002 to 2010 he also served in the Maine legislature, where he chaired the Agriculture Committee. One of only eight Americans awarded a prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship in 2005, he traveled to Sweden and Belgium exploring European models for using agriculture as a vehicle to advance sustainable community development. John holds three degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and currently serves as executive director of Maine Farmland Trust, a statewide organization based in Belfast.

Roger Ptak (Atoms, Relativities, and Quanta-Oh My!) earned his BS degree in physics from the University of Detroit and received his MS and PhD in physics from Cornell University. During his academic career at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, he taught courses at all levels in physics and astronomy, introduced an astronomy program into the curriculum, and directed it from its inception until his retirement. Results of his research in astronomy have been published in scientific journals, and he was principal investigator for several NASA grants. At Senior College he has won praise and respect for his ability to make complex information readily understandable-and often entertaining.

Pete Reilly (The Astounding World of Google) holds an MBA from Monmouth University and enjoyed a long career in finance and banking. He has previously taught various business courses for the American Institute of Banking, and has presented several well-received classes at Senior College.

Paul Sheridan (Four Important Photographers Of the 20th Century and AARP Driver Safety Course) has made photographs for more than forty years, and been a keen observer of the works of others all that time. He has a BA in art and an MFA in photography. For many years he managed a large teaching photo lab for the City University of New York and taught photography courses from adult ed up through the graduate level. He has presented many well-received classes at Senior College

Sara Shute (The Basics of Good Reasoning, Part Two) received her Ph.D. in philosophy in 1977 from Washington University in St. Louis, and taught philosophy for 26 years at Marietta College, a small liberal arts school in Marietta, Ohio. Since retiring to Maine, she has been an adjunct professor of philosophy at the University of Southern Maine, Colby College, and the University of Maine at the Hutchinson Center and at Orono. Her interests in philosophy include philosophy of mind, epistemology, and feminist philosophy. She has taught either logic or applied logic over a hundred times, and is still enthusiastic about both.

Jennifer Smith-Mayo (Digital Photography For PC Users) is a professional photographer and co-author with her husband, writer Matthew P. Mayo, of the recently published book Maine Icons: 50 Classic Symbols of the Pine tree State. Her work is regularly featured in Down East Magazine and has also appeared in Big Sky Journal, Western Art & Architecture, National Geographic, The New York Times, and Wine Spectator. She holds a master of arts in liberal studies with a concentration in new media, and works as an adjunct instructor for the University of Maine Hutchinson Center. She makes her home in Northport.

Baird Whitlock (A Short Anthology of Modern Poetry) has taught English and American literature in ten colleges from Colby, in Maine, to the University of Hawaii, and has been head of English programs at San Francisco State, University of Wyoming, Elmira College, and Midwestern State University. He has also directed the Men's Glee Club while teaching at Middlebury College, held the Kulas Chair of Music while at Case Western Reserve University, and been President of Simon's Rock College. His Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh centered on the English poet John Donne. Baird has led innumerable trips to Italy over the years, studying art and architecture.