Mark O'Riley, Vice President and Janet Sealey, President of UMRA presenting Akshi Malik with her 2nd place trophy.
Endowment funds
Through our donations and membership, UMRA supports student learning and research initiative through a University of Manitoba Retirees Association Bursary and a Scholarship plus provides the second prize in a thesis-based competition for graduate students.
The University of Manitoba Retirees Endowment Fund (UMREF)
UMREF was established in 2012 by the University of Manitoba Retirees Association (UMRA) to recognize the contributions retirees have made and continue to make to support the university’s teaching and research mission. The Funds were established as one of the endowment accounts managed within the University Investment Trust (UIT).
At present, UMREF supports three awards:
- The UMRA bursary award, which was large enough to make its first financial awards in 2017.
- The UMRA scholarship award, which will be for a graduate student enrolled in a program related to aging when its principal is large enough to support an award.
- A $1,250 scholarship to the second-place winner of the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition held every spring at the University of Manitoba. Akshi Malik was awarded the scholarship in 2023.
Three-Minute Thesis (3MT)
Learn more about the 3MT competition and meet scholarship winner Akshi Malik.
With one in four cancer patients developing heart failure due to chemotherapy drugs, Malik is working to eliminate this trade-off in cancer treatment. Her research focuses on understanding the mechanisms through which Doxorubicin, a chemotherapy drug, affects the hearts of cancer patients, as well as looking for a cardioprotective agent that can prevent Doxorubicin-induced heart failure.
“I will forever cherish the moment when I was on stage and did my best. The happy high I felt after the talk was incomparable to any presentation I have given before. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I hope to graduate soon and work in the field of scientific outreach and communication. There is a lot of impactful research being done that the general public is not aware of and I would like to make science more accessible through my presentation skills and enthusiasm for science.”
How UMREF works
Structured as an umbrella fund within the University Investment Trust (UIT), the University of Manitoba Retirees Endowment Funds (UMREF) includes a variety of awards. These include scholarships, bursaries, research awards and prizes. Any type of fund held in the UIT may be included under the UMREF umbrella. Retirees who have existing endowment funds within the UIT may opt, without any change to the existing Terms of Reference of their award, to include it as part of UMREF. Doing this would allow UMRA to demonstrate the volume of support that retired faculty and staff contribute.
All funds listed on this website are managed by the University Investment Trust (UIT). Donors receive annual reports of the performance of their individual funds.
The Endowment Fund Committee monitors the performance of the umbrella fund and reports to the UMRA membership at its Annual General Meeting. The Committee promotes contributions to already existing funds and the establishment of new endowed funds. The Committee keeps donors and retired faculty and staff informed of its activities through this website.
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Contact us
University of Manitoba Retiree Association
c/o Learning & Organizational Development
309 Administration Building
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2 Canada
204-474-7175