News Archives
Open Enrollment for healthcare benefits available to U of M retirees is November 1-30. To clarify the bewildering array of insurance options facing us, UMRA and the U’s Office of Human Resources co-hosted a workshop that featured an overview of the Minnesota marketplace for Medicare-eligible seniors and a presentation on the U’s plans for retirees—their history, what makes them distinctive, and what plans are being offered for 2022. More …
Meet UMRA member Alan Shapiro, a historian of the physical sciences whose first job was delivering newspapers in The Bronx. More …
December 15 is the application deadline for next year’s Professional Development Grants for Retirees. All U of M retirees who will be fully retired by the time of their award may apply for grants. More …
Looking ahead to when we return to in-person programming, UMRA needs a small group of folks to volunteer to do the things that are required to host a successful event. More …
In a remarkably candid talk for our October 2021 UMRA A.M. webinar, Regent Emeritus Rick Beeson offered reflections on his 12 years on the Board of Regents and shared his concerns for the future of the University. More …
In Braiding Sweetgrass, author Robin Wall Kimmerer, a trained botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, shows how other living things like plants offer us lessons to live by. The culture of gratitude is a key theme. More …
First published in 1952, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison is not a one-dimensional novel about racial unrest. Members of URMA’s Fourth Friday Book Club found it to be a book rich in ideas. More …
“Hike for health and friendship” seems like a great motto for the new UMRA Hiking Club. Welcome hikers! More …
Years ago, Jan McCulloch chose to pursue photography as a pastime rather than motorcycle riding, but she still thinks the latter would be a wonderful way to explore the world. More …
The 10,000 Families Study is recruiting participants to join a multi-generational study aimed at increasing understanding of what causes or protects again disease, and what accounts for health differences within families and across communities. More …
The Reader/Writer program is a great opportunity to help struggling inner-city students develop their communication skills and to connect with them in a meaningful way. More …
UMRA’s Transition Task Force has been charged with providing recommendations to the UMRA Board about when and how to return to in-person meetings. More …
Marcel’s Letters, by Minnesota author and graphic designer Carolyn Porter, is a fascinating journey from a small river town to war-torn Europe. More …
More than a century after the timeframe of this tale of harrowing illness and intertwined heartbreak, the parallels with today’s COVID-19 pandemic and current wars struck Book Club II participants as eerie. More …
When Yoel Blum travels from his home in Israel to Amsterdam, where he was born, he begins a journey of finding out the many things his mother kept from him, which leads to a new understanding of who he is. More …
On a clear and sunny Tuesday in August, the Retirees Association held its first all-member, in-person event in more than a year. Nearly 100 members and guests gathered at the Como Lakeside Pavilion in St. Paul to enjoy lunch and being together outdoors. More …
UMRA member Julie Medbery grew up on a farm in South Dakota, and at one time during her career at the U of M knew the names of nearly 200 (agricultural) Extension educators across the state. More …
The 2022 PDGR awards competition opens October 15, and the application deadline is December 31. The program is open to all retirees from all five campuses in the University of Minnesota System. More …
When you park your vehicle on campus, use the square QR code on the back of your new 2021–22 UMRA membership card to obtain the UMRA parking discount. More …
Are you curious about UMRA’s past or are you someone who simply enjoys working with others to put together innovative projects? If so, UMRA needs you. More …
- 1 of 27
- next ›
Event Archives
Minnesota is one of the most interesting places on the planet because three biomes come together here: boreal forest, temperate forest, and grasslands. However, this confluence of biomes also means that our forests are highly susceptible to changing climate. Lee Frelich, PhD, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Forest Ecology, will explain why when he joins us as our guest speaker for UMRA's October Forum.
The Fourth Friday Book Club selection for its meeting in October is A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. More …
Are you prepared for Open Enrollment? This year’s health insurance workshop will begin with a presentation by representatives from the international insurance broker and consulting firm Willis Towers Watson, followed by an overview of next year’s U of M retiree health plans by representatives from the Office of Human Resources.
Judy Helgen will lead the discussion of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer when the UMRA Book Club I meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, October 15. More …
UMRA member Vicki Gaylord will share ways she has found to engage family members in the family history work she has done when the Family History Interest Group meets in October. More …
The UMRA Photo Club will meet via Zoom to share and discuss photos on the theme of water at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 12. More …
Jakub Tolar, MD, PhD, will share with us the story of how the faculty, staff, and students at the University of Minnesota Medical School responded to the coronavirus pandemic in an unprecedented effort of adaptation, collaboration, and service.
The Fourth Friday Book Club selection for its meeting on Friday, September 24, is Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. More …
Join UMRA members Charles Muscoplat and Lynn C. Anderson to learn about their personal journeys through Europe and Scandinavia when UMRA’s Armchair Traveler program resumes September 22. More …
Humphrey School Senior Fellow Jay Kiedrowski will be joined by Professor and President Emeritus Robert Bruininks for this special forum to discuss the proposed amendments to the Minneapolis city charter that will be on the ballot in November.
Joni Mitchell will lead the discussion of Marcel’s Letters by Carolyn Porter when the UMRA Book Club I meets via Zoom on Friday, September 17. More …
What does it take to navigate constructive relationships between the University and the sovereign nations whose histories go deep in the lands that are now the state of Minnesota? We’ll find out when we meet the University’s first senior director of American Indian Tribal Nations Relations.
The Fourth Friday Book Club selection for its August meeting is Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter. More …
Stephanie Daily will lead the discussion of House on Endless Waters by Emuna Elon when the UMRA Book Club I meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, August 20. More …
You are invited to an in-person, outdoor summer social and lunch at Como Lakeside Pavilion, 1360 Lexington Parkway N, St Paul.
Lunch will be provided by Dock & Paddle restaurant at Como Lakeside Pavilion. There are five sandwich or main course salad options; all include a nonalcoholic beverage. The fee per person is $20.
The Pavilion is a covered, open-air, dining venue overlooking Lake Como. Please dress appropriately for the weather. Free parking is available in two adjacent lots, both with access off Lexington Parkway.
Questions may be directed to Bill Donohue at donohue@umn.edu.
For the safety of all, this event will be for UMRA members and their guests who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by August 17.
Register by August 10.
Thinking about fall? The 2021 OLLI Sampler brings the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute experience to you, online. More …
The Fourth Friday Book Club selection for July is Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John Le Carré. More …
UMRA’s late-afternoon workshop on July 20 will be a free wine tasting with U of M research winemaker and enologist Drew Horton. He will speak with us about how to properly taste wine, what it takes to breed wine grapes in Minnesota, and what U of M grapes are being used to make the best local wines today.
Laura Ericksen will lead the discussion of Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson when the UMRA Book Club I meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, July 16. More …
The Last Tycoon is the Fourth Friday Book Club’s selection for June 2021. More …
- 1 of 13
- next ›
Archives
Search past articles using 
above
- Past News & Events
- Past Forums & Workshops
- Past Program Summaries
- Program Webcasts
- Past Event Slides
- Newsletter Archives
- Photos
- UMRA History
UMRA documents are also archived in UMN document archives, Elmer L. Andersen Library.