News

Give now to the PDGR program

UMRA’s Professional Development Grants for Retirees (PDGR) program is an annual competition for grants to support projects related to retirees’ research, instructional history, or new scholarly and creative interests. Funding of up to $7,500 per grant is available. Retirees from all University campuses are eligible to apply. 

Competition for 2026 grants opens October 1

UMRA’s Professional Development Grants for Retirees (PDGR) program is an annual competition with applications accepted from October 1 to December 31. It provides financial support for University retirees to continue scholarship or pursue new projects. Funding of up to $7,500 per grant is available.

There’s still time to apply for 2026 grants

The application deadline for UMRA’s 2026 Professional Development Grants for Retirees competition is December 31.  Funding of up to $7500 per grant is available to support U of M retirees’ research, instructional history, new scholarship, or creative interests.

2025 PDGR Abstracts

2025 PDGR Awards. For the 2025 grant year, the UMRA PDGR Committee reviewed four applications for Professional Development Grants for Retirees and recommended that all four be funded. The awards covered the diverse topics of the lost art of Hungarian Jewish women, contemporary cast iron art, U.S. election systems and their potential reform, and the poetry and life of Shakespeare. The awardees and grant abstracts are listed on the 2025 PDGR Abstracts page.

Election of UMRA’s 2025–26 officers and directors

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.

Letter to President Cunningham and Provost Croson

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.

HELLO, my name is Sandy Weisberg

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.

JOIE is seeking new editor-in-chief

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.

What's in an hour?

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.

Two new members elected to URVC Leadership Council

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.

Announcing the new UMRA member portal

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. 

Dale Lange

I have developed a special interest in my seventh great grandfather, Michael Pierce… Putting together the pieces of Michael’s life has been an interesting journey, even if at times complicated and confusing. I have learned to evaluate sources that tell different stories and cannot agree on what one might think are basic facts like when and where someone was born. I have learned to accept and live with these and other ambiguities.

Operational needs: Help make UMRA run

This will be a new regular column where you can find organizational tasks that need your help! We are currently looking for help researching a new UMRA Membership Database and URVC volunteer database, and a co-producer for UMRA's Zoom webinars. See more details:

Regents OK “institutional” communication policy changes

At a contentious meeting March 14, the University of Minnesota Board of Regents approved a resolution restricting University units from issuing statements “of public concern or public interest.” Several dozen faculty and students present vehemently protested the resolution.

HELLO, my name is Vicki Gaylord

Meet UMRA member Vicki Gaylord. In her 32-year career at the Institute of Community Integration, a U of M Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, she made a positive impact on the lives of thousands of people around the world.