The History of UGARA

Beginning in 1973, the Alumni Society (now the UGA Alumni Association) sponsored an annual dinner for retired faculty/staff. In 1988, then-UGA President Charles Knapp established a seven-member task force to study the feasibility of involvement of and assistance to UGA faculty and staff members after retirement. The committee discovered that our university was one of the first in the country, second only to North Carolina State, in “recognizing retirees as an asset who could continue to serve and should also continue to be served.” (And, we believe, one of very few institutions that included both faculty and staff from the start.)

After the President’s Office began to host receptions for new retirees, the UGA Alumni Association stayed involved as an active partner. At the annual dinner in 1990, attendees approved the task force recommendation to establish a retirees association. The next year, UGARA and its nine-member governing council was officially established. Council members are elected for staggered three-year terms. Ex-officio members of the council represent other university constituencies.