As the University Retirees Volunteer Center (URVC) transitions into a new program year and a new “home” within UMRA, we welcome three new members to the URVC Management Committee.

Terry Smith retired three years ago as a senior staff scientist in fiber optics at 3M. He has taken several non-credit classes from the University and has participated in the U of M Extension Master Gardner volunteer program. His broad volunteer activities focus on food security, nutrition, and disability—including, in the latter area, a horse therapy program for the developmentally disabled. 

Andrew Phelan worked at the U for 30 years and retired as assistant director of the Department of Environmental Health & Safety. He was a recipient, in 2008, of the President’s Award for Outstanding Service. His volunteer activities during his first 10 years of retirement include working with AARP tax preparation each January through April, and participating in Hook and Ladder musical theater in the Seward neighborhood in Minneapolis. 

Michelle Trudeau-Spanjers was interviewed in the May 2022 UMRA News. Her educational background in horticultural science is reflected in her completion of the U’s Master Gardener and Minnesota Master Naturalist programs. Through URVC she has volunteered for Red Cross blood drives, Second Harvest Heartland, and Great River Greening. Her interests are biology, science, and food equity. 

To find out more about volunteer opportunities available through URVC, please call 612-625-8016 or visit the URVC website at urvc.umn.edu, where you can register to receive information related to your areas of interest.

—Jerry Rinehart, URVC Management Committee, chair