The Center for Senior Citizens' Education at the University of St. Thomas has a new director. Dr. Jan Viktora, a longtime faculty member at the university's St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, is the third director in the center's 36-year history.
The center, which offers short courses and other programs for those 55 and older, was founded in 1973 by Dr. Mo Selim, who retired in 2004. The director for the past five years was Sister Marie Herbert Seiter who retired this past summer.
For the past 24 years Viktora has taught graduate and undergraduate students in the areas of theology, catechetics and pastoral leadership, and for the past six years also has directed a Certification Training Center for the National Association of Church Business Administrators.
In addition to teaching at the seminary, Victora served as its director of supervised ministry, from 1985 to 1994, and as assistant dean, from 1994 to 2002. Prior to coming to St. Thomas, she worked as an adult educator and consultant in area churches for 13 years.
Viktora has a bachelor's degree from St. Catherine University and a master's in systematic theology from the St. Paul Seminary. She holds two degrees from St. Thomas, a master's in pastoral studies and a doctorate in educational leadership, and is working on a third, a master's in learning technology.
Viktora and her husband, Leo, live in St. Paul's Macalester-Groveland neighborhood.
Over the past 36 years the center has recorded more than 30,000 enrollments in the popular short courses it offers each fall and spring. The center also has recorded another 21,500 enrollments in its program that allows senior citizens to attend regular undergraduate academic courses, courses on computers and the Internet, and financial-planning and consulting programs.