UMRA’s Professional Development Grants for Retirees (PDGR) program is an annual competition with applications accepted from October 1 to December 31. It provides financial support for University retirees to continue scholarship or pursue new projects. Funding of up to $5,000 per grant is available. Retirees from all five campuses within the U of M System are eligible to apply whether they are members of UMRA or not. 

Since 2009, PDGR grants have been awarded to more than 110 retirees. Recent award recipients have focused on projects as varied as learning and youth development, new methods for presidential voting, assimilation of immigrants, temper outbursts in psychiatrically referred youth, and burnout prevention for health care professionals. 

You can find more information about the program, including the instructions for applying for 2025 funding, at umra.umn.edu > Serving You > Grants for Retirees. Please consider making an application.

If you have previously contributed financially to the PDGR program, thank you for your support. If you have not yet made a contribution or, if you would like to make an additional contribution, you can do so via the PDGR crowdfunding page. All contributions are tax-deductible. 

If you are age 70½ or older, you can also make a tax-efficient gift from an IRA. To do so, contact Lynn Praska, senior planned giving officer, University of Minnesota Foundation, at [email protected] or 612-624-4158.

Anyone with questions or suggestions for the grant program should contact John Bantle, MD, PDGR Committee chair, at [email protected].