UMRA’s Professional Development Grants for Retirees (PDGR) program is an annual competition for grants to support projects related to retirees’ research, instructional history, or new scholarly and creative interests. Funding of up to $7,500 per grant is available. Retirees from all University campuses are eligible to apply. 

If you have previously contributed financially to the PDGR program, thank you for your support. If you have not made a contribution or, if you would like to make another, you can do so via the PDGR crowdfunding page. 

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

Now is a particularly good time to contribute as we have a $10,000 matching grant for the remainder of 2025.

Previous awards have covered a diverse set of topics including immigration, U.S. election systems, Native American art, childhood tantrums, statistics, social equity, science, and medicine. See previous PDGR Awards for information about past projects.

Anyone with questions or suggestions for the grant program should email John Bantle, UMRA member and PDGR Committee chair.