2022 Kauffman Award Presented to

Jim Brown

The annual Kauffman Award for outstanding service to the Center for Lifelong Learning was presented to Jim Brown at the annual Earl F. Kauffman Remembrance Day Luncheon, April 21, 2022.

In Jim's working life he was a chemical engineer who spent his entire career with Olin Corporation. He retired in 2007 as Director of Environmental Remediation, managing cleanups of Olin’s past disposal areas and former plant sites.

Jim moved to Aiken after retirement and joined SeniorNet, predecessor of the McGrath Computer Learning Center, in 2008. He created several course manuals for Aiken SeniorNet and McGrath, and taught and coached many technical courses over the years. Jim served as Coordinator of Aiken SeniorNet from 2009 through 2011 then served on the SeniorNet/McGrath Board that managed McGrath’s separation from SeniorNet in 2015.

Jim has had a love of computers since 1977, so he was a natural to serve as SeniorNet/McGrath’s webmaster from 2010 until 2021. Then, when McGrath merged with the Academy for Lifelong Learning to form the Center for Lifelong Learning, Jim took on the daunting task of combining the McGrath and Academy websites into a new comprehensive website.

Jim and his wife Debbie enjoy traveling, hiking—especially in the mountains—and being with their grandchildren. Even though they moved 140 miles northwest to Mountain Rest, SC in 2020 to be closer to the mountains, Jim has maintained his involvement with McGrath, and now the Center for Lifelong Learning, in Aiken. For his hard work and dedication to the senior education community, the Center for Lifelong Learning proudly names Jim Brown as the recipient of the 2022 Kauffman Award.