HELLO, my name is Kristy Frost-Griep
Hometown: Mankato. We moved to the west side of the Twin Cities when I was one, and I grew up in Long Lake.
When did you join UMRA? Fall of 2021.
What was your very first job? My family owned a 12-room motel, and my sisters and I cleaned rooms when we were young teens. Everyone preferred to change beds/dust/vacuum; you always got done faster than the bathroom cleaner. We were also on unpaid duty for renting rooms and answering the phone. We had an old switchboard, so all calls for the rooms, in or out, had to go through it. I still have a visceral reaction to a phone ringing. It did, however, teach me customer service.
What was your role at the University when you retired from FT work? Director of finance for Academic Clinical Affairs. My team provided financial support and oversight for a bunch of centers and units that were not part of schools, but provided resources across schools.
You are an accountant by profession, and earned your undergraduate degree (Phi Beta Kappa, in economics) at St. Olaf. How did your liberal arts education help prepare you for a career in finance? Honestly, learning how to think, analyze, read, write, and communicate has been invaluable. I'm not saying the standard accounting programs are devoid of that, but I think liberal arts does a superior job. Plus, I loved being able to take music and lit courses. They were some of my favorites!
If you won the lottery, what is something you would do with the money—for fun? Darn good question. More travel? Buy cars for all the nieces and nephews? Redo the bathroom, I guess. And buy a new boat for the lake. The old pontoon keeps acting up, although I think [my husband] Tom actually enjoys that battle.
If you could learn a new skill, what would you like it to be? Probably speaking Spanish. I've been re-learning German (I was fluent in my youth), but I'd like to learn Spanish, too.
Do you have a favorite place on campus? I know this sounds odd, but the lower-level throughway in the Health Sciences area, between Diehl/Mayo/Moos Tower/the Phillips-Wangensteen Building. If you felt sluggish, you could go down and get a tea at Caribou (or Outside In, or one of the restaurants that preceded them), and you would run into at least ten people you knew. It was impossible not to feel better by the time you walked back to your office. (On the other hand, if you were trying to get to a meeting in a hurry, it could be a problem.)
What is something you currently enjoy doing with your time? I golf with my girlfriends. I am unbelievably, horrifically awful, but I truly enjoy it.
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.