With the closing of the Campus Club and cancellation of our May Annual Meeting due to COVID-19, UMRA’s annual election will be conducted by email. The Nominating Committee presents the following candidates for approval.

Please see the May 2020 letter from the president for details on how the election will be conducted.

Frank Cerra, president (automatically moves from president-elect to president), joined the U of M in1981 as a trauma critical care surgeon. He has more than 350 peer-reviewed publications in basic research in liver cell metabolism and transitional nutritional/metabolic support of the critically ill and injured, and in interprofessional education. Entering administration as department head in surgery, he became dean of the Medical School and then served 15 years as the senior vice president for health sciences and services. In 2011, he became a part-time senior advisor to the National Center for Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice. He now serves on governing boards and does consulting work.

Jan Morlock, president-elect, served until retiring in 2017 as director of community relations for the Twin Cities Campus, coordinating the U's engagement in local and regional and government and planning initiatives. She and her husband recently moved to Wisconsin, where they are settling into the local community and converting part of an old dairy farm to pollinator habitat. Noting the need to take good care of precious relationships and connections with others, she writes: “UMRA and the U have made this part of my life a richer experience, and I want to see what I can do to keep our organization growing, engaged, and responsive to our members and prepared to make the most of whatever surprises and opportunities are ahead.”

Gary Engstrand, secretary, retired in 2016 as senior fellow in higher education in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD). Between student years and staff appointments, he has been at the U since Winter Quarter 1970. After working for the dean of CLA, Engstrand worked for 11 years in the Office of the Vice President for Administration and Planning (on sex discrimination in athletics) and 27 years as secretary to the faculty, moving to CEHD for the last two years. His swansong was the "Six Presidents" event in 2015, but he is more likely remembered for long committee minutes. He earned three degrees from the University.

Gregory Hestness, treasurer, concluded his 40-year police career in 2015. After serving his first 28 years with the Minneapolis Police Department, he joined the U as assistant vice president for Public Safety and police chief. Greg is a U of M graduate, as are his wife, Barbara (who holds a degree in social work), and most of his family. He holds a BA in sociology with emphasis on Criminology and Deviance, and a master’s degree in management from St. Mary’s University. Hestness looks forward to being active in UMRA as a way to continue to be of service and as a lifelong learner. He and Barbara live in his native Minneapolis.

New board members (for three-year terms)

B. Jan McCulloch joined the faculty in 2003 as department head of Family Social Science, a role she held until 2013. She also taught several family social science courses and an orientation seminar and conducted research focusing on rural aging, depression among older adults, and older women’s health decision-making. Her committee service includes the Faculty Consultative Committee; Women’s Faculty Cabinet; University Centennial Committee; and the Children, Youth, & Family Consortium Advisory Council. For 10 years, she served on the Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging Board, including as president and in other leadership roles. Since retiring in 2014, she has been active in the UMRA Photo Club.

Barbara Shiels retired in 2019 after serving as an attorney in the Office of the General Counsel (OGC) since 1983. Her initial work there focused on student affairs and data practices legal issues. From 1994 to 1997, she was associate general counsel in the University hospital (now part of M Health Fairview). From 1998 through retirement, she specialized in human and animal research regulatory issues and health sciences student and resident matters, and served as the OGC contact on immigration matters. She is proud to have served the University her entire legal career, working on complex and challenging legal issues with administrators, faculty, and colleagues all deeply committed to the mission of the U.

Cathrine Wambach retired in 2016 as associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD). Her PhD (from the U) is in counseling psychology. She started her career in General College, researching best practices in teaching and supporting underrepresented students, which she continued when she joined CEHD. She also served on numerous University Senate committees and task forces, chaired the Senate Committee on Educational Policy, and is a past president of the Minnesota Association for Developmental Education. Cathrine received the Morse-Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award for her work in curriculum development, program evaluation, and teaching. Retirement is providing more opportunities to spend time with family and friends, travel, and go to the cabin. 

Board members nominated for second terms

Vern Cardwell retired in 2010 after 45 years of teaching and research in the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, with his last decade devoted to undergraduate teaching and advising. He taught 28 different courses, including four team-taught interdisciplinary courses. He served two terms on the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences Faculty Consultative Committee and is a Fellow of AAAS, Crop Science Society of America, and American Society of Agronomy, serving as president of the latter two societies. After retirement, Cardwell worked seven years for Compatible Technology International and last year for Habitat for Humanity. As an OLLI member, he has taught or team-taught five courses. He and his spouse enjoy winter month trips, most recently to Mexico and Colombia.

Cathy Lee Gierke, a native Minnesotan, has been the UMRA webmaster since 2014, succeeding David Naumann, with whom she helped develop the UMRA site. As a Univac programmer, she validated new mainframe and hardware designs using several computer languages. In the Peace Corps, Gierke learned how to repair personal computers and organized an international web-based network that provided computers to Jamaica. At the Carlson School of Management, she managed the first web-based automated recruiting system at the U. In 2014, she received an UMRA Professional Development Grant Retirees award to analyze time-series for periodicities. She studies biological rhythms with the U's Halberg Chronobiology Center and spends her free time traveling and volunteering.