A Life of Inquiry 

For 80 years, the Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults has served passionate lifelong learners like Ross Sweeny. Throughout his career as a civil engineer and into retirement, Ross has turned to the Great Books for the beauty of their language and the vital lessons they have to teach. Long after completing the four-year Basic Program in 1983, he has stayed involved in the Graham School by attending courses and events, discussing big ideas with the members of his cohort, and giving back to the program. 

Ross Sweeny built a career around solving complex, practical problems. Inspired by the first Earth Day in 1970, he became a civil engineer and spent decades designing drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities. But outside of work, he found himself drawn to different questions, ones without technical solutions. 

He wanted to think more deeply about ethics, history, beauty, human nature, and the ideas that shape societies. That search brought him to the University of Chicago Graham School and to the Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults. What began as an intellectual pursuit became a lifelong practice. 

Long after earning his certificate from the Basic Program in 1983, Ross continues to read, question, and learn alongside the Graham community. As the Basic Program celebrates its 80^th anniversary in 2026, he reflects on how studying the liberal arts and the relationships that formed along the way made a lasting difference in his life. 

Embracing the liberal arts 

Ross always enjoyed reading. As a young man he was drawn to books on astronomy and science fiction novels like Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy, but he had taken few liberal arts classes during his undergraduate years. 

After starting work as a civil engineer, Ross began looking for something more from his reading. Taking a summer course at Graham turned his attention to the fundamental questions that shape people and societies. He soon decided to immerse himself in the works that have shaped centuries of thought by enrolling in the four-year Basic Program. 

“I just fell in love with it right away,” Ross recalled. 

Studying the Great Books in the Basic Program was an opportunity to enjoy the beauty of literary language and to explore compelling ideas. Along with the rest of his cohort, he came to class each week ready to talk in depth about literary, philosophical, and historical works. 

“In the Basic Program, you learn how to read carefully and have discussions with other people who read carefully, and that’s so different from being in a book club or anything like that,” Ross said. 

Going back to the classical roots of modern thought had a deep and lasting impact on Ross. The philosophy of Plato and Aristotle helped him to rethink how he made ethical decisions. Ancient historians like Herodotus and Thucydides revealed the larger context behind later developments in societies and military conflicts. 

“These books provide the basic background of how I view the world and the people and situations in it,” he said. “I feel very fortunate that I have that.” 

A community of lifelong inquiry 

When Ross received his Basic Program certificate in June 1983, he was far from done exploring the liberal arts. The Graham School remained an important part of his life in the years that followed, offering an intellectual community in which close reading and the open exchange of ideas could continue well beyond the four-year program. 

He attended weekend events like the annual Humanities Day and, as his work schedule allowed, enrolled in Alumni Courses, which are open to students who have completed at least two years of the Basic Program. He and his Basic Program cohort stayed connected, joining multiple courses together to continue their conversations about ethics, beauty, and society. 

In these classes, Ross continued discovering writers and ideas that expanded on the foundation he had built in the Basic Program. For example, he became fascinated with Jorge Luis Borges in an Alumni Course with instructor Katia Mitova, struck by how the Argentine author’s intellectually rich stories and essays engaged with almost the entire corpus of Great Books that he’d studied previously. 

“To be in real conversation with Borges is a true joy,” Ross said. 

Ross seizes any chance to return to the works of the authors he has found most compelling and illuminating, which includes Borges as well as Homer, Shakespeare, and Jane Austen. In recent years, he spent a week on campus rereading and discussing The Iliad as part of the UChicago Seminar for Lifelong Learners. 

For Ross, returning to a great work is never simply repetition. New scholarship, new life experience, and the perspectives of fellow learners continually open familiar texts to new interpretations.  

The Basic Program at 80 

The Basic Program has welcomed lifelong learners like Ross since 1946. In the decades since he joined the program, there have been some changes: courses are now offered online, and more authors and topics have been introduced to the curriculum. Yet the program’s focus has never shifted away from inviting people from all walks of life to think critically about timeless texts. 

Now retired from his engineering career and traveling less often to the Hyde Park campus, he remains involved in the mission of liberal arts education at the Graham School. As a member of the Graham Circle of supporters, he helps to ensure that the Basic Program will continue to thrive and welcome new generations of lifelong learners for years to come. In fact, the Basic Program is entering its 80^th year with its largest enrollment ever, welcoming more than 270 new students in Autumn 2026. 

To mark the anniversary, Ross plans to attend the Liberal Arts & Society Symposium. The day will bring together Basic Program instructors, scholars, students, alumni, and friends for conversations about the enduring place of the liberal arts in our lives and society, followed by a celebratory dinner. 

To learn more about sustaining the Basic Program, visit our Securing the Future of the Basic Program page and explore how you can help to make a lasting impact for generations of adult learners.