PDGR grant recipient honored for COVID paper
UMRA member John L. Romano was honored at last year’s American Psychological Association (APA) Convention for the best paper published in 2020 in the Journal of Prevention and Health Promotion. As of mid-January 2022, his paper, “Politics of Prevention: Reflections From the COVID-19 Pandemic,” had been downloaded more than 8,400 times.
Romano is professor emeritus of counseling psychology in the Department of Educational Psychology. His article emphasized the importance of adapting prevention applications to the intended recipients, especially ethnic and cultural groups, during the pandemic.
Romano retired in 2015. His continuing professional work was supported by UMRA’s Professional Development Grants for Retirees (PDGR) program. A 2018 grant allowed him to attend the APA conference where he organized an international session of scholars in prevention science which, in turn, grew into the COVID paper.
“The PDGR funds certainly helped to support my continuing professional activities,” Romano said. “The funds are a valuable source of financial support, and they encourage retired faculty to maintain scholarly activities. The activities not only benefit the faculty member, but also demonstrate the University of Minnesota’s commitment to retired faculty and staff.”
The PDGR awards for 2022 will be announced in March.
—Will Craig, Communication & Outreach Committee member
News
Since retiring from the College of Biological Sciences faculty, UMRA member Kathryn Hanna has pursued her longtime interest in the arts and antiques and is currently the co-president of the Fan Association of North America, a nonprofit organization of hand fan collectors.
October 1 marks the start of the 2025 competition for financial support from UMRA’s Professional Development Grants for Retirees program. Retirees from all five campuses within the U of M System are eligible to apply whether or not they are members of UMRA.
The Regents’ Special Committee on Academic Health is seeking feedback from the University community on a draft of the Health Sciences Strategic Plan drawn up by the deans of the University’s six health sciences schools and colleges.
The UMRA membership year runs from July 1 to June 30, and now there is a new and easy way to see whether you have already renewed for 2025. Look to the right of your name in the address field on page 12 of the September 2024 print newsletter you received, and you will see a four-digit year. If it says “2025,” it means you have renewed.
So, you have set up a new email account; set up your recovery emails and phone numbers for this new account (!!); moved your emails, contacts, and documents from Google Drive to the new account; notified all your friends and business associates. Now what??
Did you check all of your online accounts? Any that use the old UMN account will need changes -- you may need to change the login, or the contact info, or both -- to the new email address. This article lists other details to consider.
For those of us who have not yet taken the leap to abandon our umn.edu email and Google Workspace accounts before the December 7 deadline, there are three basic things we need to do to get going.
UMRA member Susan Kubitschek attended the University of Minnesota on the G.I. Bill and, after working at the U for 40 years, retired as assistant dean and director of Collegiate Life in the College of Science and Engineering.
Delegates to the Big Ten Retirees Association 2024 annual conference met at The Ohio State University in July to learn about Ohio State, share ideas, and develop closer ties among the 28 attendees from 12 of the 14 Big Ten schools. Minnesota will host the conference in 2026.
“UMRA members are engaged ‘University citizens’ with decades of experience at every level of this great institution, and we want to have a mutually useful and effective relationship with the Board of Regents,” says John Finnegan, UMRA’s new liaison to the regents.
UMRA member Mike Austin is taking full advantage of his retirement to volunteer in a variety of activities, travel, and learn a new language. He says, “I have the time, I have the ability, and I get bored sitting around.”
Members of UMRA’s 2024–25 Board of Directors were elected in May. Directors are elected to three-year terms and may serve two consecutive terms.
Funding of up to $5,000 per grant is available to support U of M retirees’ research, instructional history, new scholarship, or creative interests.