From the President
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FROM THE PRESIDENT
2026-03: Membership mattersWe never quite know when membership and the participation born from it will matter, will make a difference. But now is that moment. Thank you for joining, for being who you are, and doing what you do. More...
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News
2026 PDGR Awards
For the 2026 grant year, the UMRA PDGR Committee received eight new applications. The PDGR Committee selected six for funding. See the awardees and grant abstracts on the 2026 PDGR Abstracts page.
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Book Notes | ‘Where the Rivers Part’
Event Date: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 the Rivers Part.' A tribute to her mother, this lyrical and complex book won the 2025 Minnesota Book Award in the memoir category. More...
An expansive view of retirement
Event Date: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. More...
UMRA grants program announces six awards for 2026
UMRA’s 2026 grants for retirees will help to support scholarly and creative projects focused on art, architecture, creativity in children, public humanities, understanding human aggression, and volunteerism.
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Regents welcome end of ICE “surge”
The University Regents’ meeting on February 13 began with heartfelt remarks from Regent Joel Bergstrom regarding the damage inflicted on Minnesota by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement violence.
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A time and place to serve
The University Retirees Volunteer Center offers a variety of opportunities to be of help. “We all want to help stressed communities during this difficult time in Minnesota,” says Michelle Trudeau-Spanjers, URVC’s liaison to Neighborhood House, which is providing emergency groceries and other necessities to St. Paul families worried about their safety.
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HELLO, my name is Kristy Frost-Griep
Meet UMRA member and stalwart treasurer Kristy Frost-Griep, a Renaissance woman who learned the value of hard work and the importance of customer service as a young teen, working in the family business.
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UMRA to host 2026 Big Ten Retirees Association Conference
Planning is already well underway for UMRA to host this year’s annual meeting of the Big Ten Retirees Association in late July on the U of M Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis.
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What did grandfather find in America?
Event Date: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. More...
An Icelandic saga
Event Date:When you are of Icelandic descent you can trace your ancestors back to around 1200 and sometimes further. More...
Identity development across the lifespan
Event Date: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. More...
Book Notes | ‘52 Loaves’
Event Date: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. More...
Final call for UMRA Board nominations
One last reminder that the Nominating Committee is looking for your suggestions for candidates to serve on the UMRA Board—primarily president-elect, who serves as Program Committee chair for one year before becoming president; secretary; and up to five directors. The Board meets monthly from September through May and directors serve three-year terms.
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A time to address 'pressing opportunities' for service
Volunteerism is declining across the country, and the University Retirees Volunteer Center is gearing up to help reverse the trend. Please be on the lookout for a short survey in February or March. URVC wants to hear about your interests, experiences, and suggestions related to volunteering.
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HELLO, my name is Nanette Hanks
Meet UMRA member Nanette Hanks, a fourth-generation Texan who has hiked the Camino de Santiago in Spain nearly 40 times! She’s going back in June, and still has a couple places left if you’d like to join the group she will be leading.
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