Nominations sought for UMRA officers and board members
The 2023 UMRA Nominating Committee has begun its work to identify a slate of candidates for UMRA board members and officers. We invite you to nominate yourself or other members for election to these important positions in our organization. The committee will consider nominations and make recommendations to the current board at its March 27 meeting.
The members of UMRA will elect board members and officers at our annual meeting in May. We will elect up to four board members, each for a three-year term (2023–26, renewable); a treasurer and a secretary, each for a one-year term (renewable); and a president-elect, for a one-year term followed by one year as president and a third year as past president. The president, treasurer, secretary, president-elect, and past president comprise the Executive Committee of the UMRA Board of Directors.
I’m pleased to lead the 2023 Nominating Committee with the following members appointed by the current board:
- Dale Blyth, UMRA member and professor emeritus, College of Education and Human Development
- Cathy Godlewski, UMRA member and retired Medical School administrator
- Eric Hockert, UMRA president-elect
- Russell Luepker, UMRA board member
- Jerry Rinehart, URVC Council chair
- Cathrine Wambach, UMRA board member
- Becky Yust, UMRA member and professor emerita, College of Design
Please send your nomination suggestions or questions to me at [email protected].
—Jan Morlock, UMRA past president and Nominating Committee chair
News
The election of UMRA officers and new board members for 2025–26 will be conducted via an online poll from May 12 to 18, with the results to be announced at our annual meeting on May 20. Sally Gregory Kohlstedt leads the slate of nominees as president-elect. She came to the University of Minnesota in 1989 as a professor and associate dean, and retired in 2018.
On April 30, the UMRA Board of Directors sent a letter to University of Minnesota President Rebecca Cunningham and Provost Rachel Croson expressing the Board's support for the University admnistration as it confronts the legal, ethical, and moral challenges created by the current federal leadership.
Meet UMRA member and statistics Professor Emeritus Sandy Weisberg. His work in “regression analysis” is the direct ancestor of predictive artificial intelligence. His first job was renting televisions to patients in the now-defunct Queen of Angels Hospital in Los Angeles.
The UMRA-sponsored Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays is seeking a new editor-in-chief who can promote the e-publication, solicit authors, and ensure JOIE’s continued success.
Volunteer work is usually evaluated according to “replacement rate” figures based on hourly wages. But the data on hours contributed and people served are just the notes on the page; the music is in the human spirit behind and beyond them.
The University Retirees Volunteer Center Leadership Council has elected two new members, including UMRA member Scott Elton (pictured), and re-elected four members for second, three-year terms.
UMRA is excited to announce the launch of a new member portal in late April. This web-based, member management software system is hosted by a company called WildApricot and will replace the current member portal at retirees.umn.edu, where you currently renew your membership and sign up for events.
The new portal simplifies and more efficiently manages many essential tasks for UMRA, including enrolling new members, updating member records, registering event attendees, and processing payments.