Event Summary

Meet the U’s chief academic officer and Twin Cities campus provost

Executive Vice President and Provost Gretchen Ritter will discuss her role and offer reflections on her first year at the University of Minnesota as the featured speaker for the UMRA Luncheon Forum on May 19 at Midland Hills Country Club in Roseville. The forum will be preceded by UMRA’s 2026 Annual Meeting.

Book Notes | ‘The Alchemy of Us’

Event Date: May 15, 2026, at 2:00 PM

The things we take for granted required materials and humans working together to develop inventions including the telegraph, steel, medical treatments, photographic techniques, and the electronic devices we now depend on in our daily lives.

An advocate for gun violence prevention

UMRA’s Living Well Workshop on May 12 will feature Megan Walsh from the University of Minnesota Law School for a presentation on efforts to prevent gun violence through lawsuits designed to address unlawful practices in selling, manufacturing, or advertising firearms.

The changing role of art museums

Ever wonder what goes on behind the shiny walls of the Weisman Art Museum on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus? What its mission is, and how the museum staff and its collections relate with our community? Join us for UMRA’s April 28 luncheon forum at Midland Hills and hear Weisman Art Director Alejandra Peña Gutiérrez explain it all.

“No, Manchester is not the ‘armpit of England’” with Ilene Dawn Alexander

Event Date: April 22, 2026, at 10:00 AM

Ilene Dawn Alexander did a fabulous presentation on April 22, 2026, for the UMRA Armchair Traveler program.

Keeping up with technology is a daunting responsibility

Event Date: April 16, 2026, at 8:30 AM

“You are the chief information officer of you and your family. A daunting responsibility,” Frank Preese told fellow UMRA members who attended the April UMRA breakfast meeting to discuss keeping up with technology and learn from his expert advice and each other.

Writing our lives

UMRA’S March workshop will explore how to transform your memories, including those that have faded with time, into lively true stories. It will also show you how to reflect on them, how to express how you felt, and how to connect your stories to the values and beliefs you want to pass on.

How the University is navigating current legal and policy challenges

University of Minnesota General Counsel Douglas Peterson will be the featured speaker for UMRA’s March 24 luncheon forum. He will speak about how the University is addressing its latest challenges and opportunities involving law. 

DNA testing and analysis

Event Date: March 11, 2026, at 10:00 AM

Please join the UMRA Family History Interest Group meeting recording when Michelle Casey presented “DNA Testing and Analysis Using 23andMe, Ancestry, and MyHeritage.”

Book Notes | ‘Where Rivers Part’

Event Date: February 20, 2026, at 2:00 PM

UMRA’s Book Club members learned a great deal about Hmong traditions, traumas, and relationships from acclaimed St. Paul author Kao Kalia Yang’s 'Where Rivers Part.' A tribute to her mother, this lyrical and complex book won the 2025 Minnesota Book Award in the memoir category.

Challenges in trusting public health institutions

Event Date: March 12, 2026, at 8:30 AM

John Finnegan, emeritus dean of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, recently joined 20 members and friends of UMRA for an in-depth and thought-provoking discussion on the erosion of trust in public health institutions and where to turn for accurate, science-based information.

How the current generation of older Americans is transforming retirement

Well-known Twin Cities-based financial journalist and economics commentator Chris Farrell will be the featured guest for UMRA’s February 17 Living Well Workshop via Zoom. He will discuss why and how the current generation of older Americans is not following the traditional retirement pattern of a relaxed lifestyle. 

What did grandfather find in America?

Event Date: February 11, 2026, at 10:00 AM

Family history with Jim Kurle. A tale of Swedish emigration to Dunn County, North Dakota including my grandfather, whose unusual relationship to several churches, and religion in general, was one of the reasons for his emigrating.

Book Notes | ‘Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend’

Event Date: April 17, 2026, at 2:00 PM

Members of the UMRA Book Club learned a lot from Susan Orlean’s book about the life and times of the dog rescued by an American soldier from a World War I battlefield, including the evolution of the movie industry from silent films to talkies, the development and increasing popularity of the German Shepherd breed, the use of dogs in World Wars I and II, and the domestication of animals from farm animals to pets.

An Icelandic saga

Event Date: January 21, 2026, at 10:00 AM

When you are of Icelandic descent you can trace your ancestors back to around 1200 and sometimes further.