Event Summary Archives

UMRA welcomed Carol Bradford, MD, interim dean of the UMN Medical School and interim executive vice president for Health Affairs, as the guest speaker for the first Living Well Workshop of the fall. She painted an optimistic future for the health sciences, driven by the University’s Elevate Extraordinary 2030 strategic plan.

Overall, our group liked 'The Secret Book of Flora Lea' with its rich descriptions and happy ending. We also talked about the heart-wrenching removal of 1.5 million people from British towns and cities over three days in September 1939.

Questions and comments on topics ranging from consistent bedtimes to the use of CPAP machines and over-the-counter sleep aids contributed to an engaging and goodhearted discussion for the UMRA Breakfast meeting on September 17.

Mike, president of the Minnesota Genealogical Society, provided a brief overview of the library, the society and the many volunteers who help maintain it and entertained questions about the Society.

The book chronicles the lives of three generations of two families living in Ohio in the mid 20th-century. Midway through the book, the reader learns that the two families are connected in a most unusual way.

Referred to as a psychological thriller, this New York Times best-selling novel by Alex Michaelides is narrated by the lead character, a psychotherapist who becomes obsessed with a woman who, after being found guilty of murdering her husband, has chosen not to speak.

'In Winter’s Kitchen' by award-winning food writer and author Beth Dooley is part memoir and part guidebook. It is a story about discovering community-based agriculture and finding delicious, healthy food even during winter. Autobiographical information about the author is woven into each chapter of the book.

During her first year as executive vice president and provost, Gretchen Ritter’s major assignments have included advancing the University’s strategic roadmap: “Elevate Extraordinary 2030.” Throughout her presentation as the guest speaker for the UMRA Forum on May 19, she emphasized the importance of identifying and pursuing shared values and a common commitment among all members of the University.

The things we take for granted required materials and humans working together to develop inventions including the telegraph, steel, medical treatments, photographic techniques, and the electronic devices we now depend on in our daily lives.

Did you know that in the United States there are more guns than people, and that firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teenagers? These chilling facts were among the statistics shared by Megan Walsh during UMRA’s May 2026 Living Well Workshop. Walsh is the founder and director of the Gun Violence Prevention Clinic at the University of Minnesota Law School.

The Weisman Art Museum has shifted focus, from objects to people, as it attempts to build stronger community connections, both on campus and beyond. One of the motivating factors was the 1990 passage of the federal Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act.

Ilene Dawn Alexander did a fabulous presentation on April 22, 2026, for the UMRA Armchair Traveler program.

Members of the UMRA Book Club learned a lot from Susan Orlean’s book about the life and times of the dog rescued by an American soldier from a World War I battlefield, including the evolution of the movie industry from silent films to talkies, the development and increasing popularity of the German Shepherd breed, the use of dogs in World Wars I and II, and the domestication of animals from farm animals to pets.

“You are the chief information officer of you and your family. A daunting responsibility,” Frank Preese told fellow UMRA members who attended the April UMRA breakfast meeting to discuss keeping up with technology and learn from his expert advice and each other.

The Retirees Association was honored to welcome University of Minnesota General Counsel Doug Peterson as the guest speaker for our March 2026 Forum. He spoke about research, intercollegiate athletics, and the negotiations concerning the future relationship of the University and Fairview Health Services.

Our March workshop featured a motivating and practical presentation by author, educator, and memoirist Andrea Gilats on why and how we should write down our personal stories. She views memoir writing as a wellness practice. Read more.

John Finnegan, emeritus dean of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, recently joined 20 members and friends of UMRA for an in-depth and thought-provoking discussion on the erosion of trust in public health institutions and where to turn for accurate, science-based information.

Please join the UMRA Family History Interest Group meeting recording when Michelle Casey presented “DNA Testing and Analysis Using 23andMe, Ancestry, and MyHeritage.”

UMRA’s Book Club members learned a great deal about Hmong traditions, traumas, and relationships from acclaimed St. Paul author Kao Kalia Yang’s 'Where Rivers Part.' A tribute to her mother, this lyrical and complex book won the 2025 Minnesota Book Award in the memoir category.

Chris Farrell, author and commentator on economics, offered his online audience for UMRA’s February workshop expansive terms to describe retirement, including “encore,” “next chapter,” and “evolution.” He focused on the contemporary situation for those leaving lifelong work.

Family history with Jim Kurle. A tale of Swedish emigration to Dunn County, North Dakota including my grandfather, whose unusual relationship to several churches, and religion in general, was one of the reasons for his emigrating.

When you are of Icelandic descent you can trace your ancestors back to around 1200 and sometimes further.

UMRA’s first Living Well Workshop for 2026 featured McKnight Presidential Endowed Professor of Psychology Moin Syed who explored how personal and cultural narratives shape identity over time. Syed explained how our memories function as stories, through which we understand ourselves, and are continually interpreted and reinterpreted over time.

In William Alexander’s humorous memoir, readers are taken on a wild ride as he searches for the recipe and technique to replicate—from scratch—the “perfect bread.” He tries his hand at growing, harvesting, and threshing the wheat, attends a kneading conference in Maine, and even enrolls in a week-long bourlangerie class at the École Ritz Escoffier in Paris.

A large group of UMRA members gathered at the Original Pancake House in Edina in early January for a discussion led by UMRA member Frank Cerra, MD, former dean of the University of Minnesota Medical School and senior vice president of the U’s Academic Health Center, who retired from the University in 2011.

Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin turns personal in this illuminating memoir of the unparalleled 1960s and the life she shared with her husband of 42 years, Richard “Dick” Goodwin, speech writer and confidant of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Robert F. Kennedy.

Cathy Lee Gierke presented photos about her cruise on the Rhine river, Italian Switzerland, and Lake Como -- and the history, culture and geology along the way.

Academic freedom and freedom of speech are being challenged by the current federal administration in ways that are upending norms and directly affecting institutions of higher education across the country.

After my grandmother gave birth to her ninth child, my grandfather ran off with another woman. They were caught living together in a small town 250 miles away. This presentation will describe the three main characters and what happened next.

Damien Fair, PhD, offered a terrific presentation at the University of Minnesota Retirees Association luncheon forum on October 28. The audience of nearly 110 members and friends of UMRA paid close attention as he outlined an optimizing career path that led to his current research and program development at the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain.