Competition for 2026 grants opens October 1
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 $7,500 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 2026 funding, at umra.umn.edu > Service and Outreach > 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.
Now is a particularly good time to contribute as we have a $10,000 matching grant for the remainder of 2025.
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].
News
The election of UMRA officers and board members for 2026-27 will be held online from Monday, May 11, through Sunday, May 17, with the results to be announced at UMRA’s 2026 Annual Meeting and Luncheon Forum on Tuesday, May 19. Nanette Hanks, nominated to become UMRA's next president-elect, tops the slate of candidates approved by the current Board of Directors during its meeting on Monday, March 23.
Proposed changes to the UMRA Bylaws will be on this year’s election ballot along with the nominees for officers and directors. The updates to the bylaws were drafted in response to changes proposed by the Nominating Committee and Membership and Communication Committee, and were approved by UMRA’s Board of Directors in November 2025.
Meet UMRA member Mike Amidon, whose career in computers and information technology spans the years when the Gopher system was developed at the U of M and then quickly eclipsed by the World Wide Web. Remember the days before the internet?
In partnership with Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs Beth Lewis, UMRA has been helping current University faculty members to decide whether and when to retire. It’s an experience only actual retirees can truly share.
If getting to know more retiree colleagues and serving the University community were among your goals in joining UMRA, sign up for one of the Silver Gopher Service Corps volunteer projects and come for the fun—and teamwork!
Northrop Organist Greg Zelek will team up with the University Singers, led by U of M professor and director of choral activities Matthew Mehaffey, for a can’t-miss concert blending choral and organ works at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 29. Northrop is offering UMRA members a 20% discount on tickets.
The SparkPath Young Authors Conference (YAC) program gives 4th- to 8th-grade students the opportunity to learn from professionals with actual writing experience. The University Retirees Volunteer Center is seeking volunteers to assist with several conferences to be held at Bethel University in St. Paul in May.
Plans are well underway for UMRA to host the 2026 Big Ten Retirees Association Conference this July on the Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis. There are a few, limited volunteer opportunities that may be of interest to you.
Do you remember when “Driven to Discover” was new? Do you know what is taking its place? For the answers to these and similar questions you may have, join UMRA’s Campus Conversation with Chris Gade, U of M vice president for marketing communications, on Tuesday, April 7.