Welcome to the RFPA
January 2025
The phrase that “Time flies so we must be havng fun” resonates with me as I ponder making New Year’s resolutions (or not). I look forward to seeing you on January 22, 2025 to hear Professor Mark Katz talk about hip hop (whatever that is) and on March 5 when Professor Alice Ammerman will talk about food insecurity and ways in which entrepreneurs can help mitigate it.
I’m also looking forward to 2026 when the Retired Faculty and Professionals Association, initially the Retired Faculty Association, began will celebrate its 40th year. Preliminary plans include publishing the history together with a membership directory and a special event during which we can all raise a glass and mark this achievement. Please say yes when I call on you to join the small group that is making plans for the best ways to celebrate – which also means keeping RFPA vital for another 40 years.
If you are pondering where to send your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) or perhaps a Qualified Minimum Distribution (QMD), please consider designating RFPA for all or part of it. Those who want to contribute RMDs or QMDs should contact Gift Planning by calling 800-994-8803 or emailing createalegacy@unc.edu.
It’s easy to make tax-deductible donations online at https://give.unc.edu/ where you can search for the Retired Faculty and Professionals Association and designate fund 071341. Checks can be mailed to the Office of University Development, P.O. Box 309, Chapel Hill, NC 27514-0309; again, please include 071341 on the check. For additional ways to donate, Click Here.
Here’s my mantra: Bring your retired friends and colleagues to lunch, and invite them to join this vibrant association. Retirees from colleges and universities are assets, albeit hidden and underused. We do not retire from life, nor do we suddenly forgo all our experience, skills, and abilities when we vacate our offices. Many of us remain active in our research areas; most of us have a positive impact on our various constituencies; and all of us contribute to the greater good.
We’re doing a lot, but together we could be doing so much more.
Bobbi Owen, President 2024-2025
January UNC RFPA Lunch Meeting
Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 12:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Friday Conference Center
Professor Mark Katz, the John P. Barker Distinguished Professor of Music, and Founding Director of the Next Level Cultural Diplomacy Program will be our speaker. His topic will be “Hip Hop and the State Department: An Unlikely Partnership?” He will talk about the power of hip hop as a tool for cultural diplomacy.
Professor Katz teaches courses on music and technology, popular music, music and incarceration, and cultural diplomacy. Before joining the faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill in 2006, he taught at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. In 2013, Katz became the founding Director of Next Level, a U.S. Department of State–funded program that sends U.S. hip hop artists abroad to foster cultural exchange, conflict transformation, and entrepreneurship. Professor Katz speaks frequently to academic and non-academic audiences — all around the world
His scholarship focuses on music and technology, hip hop, cultural diplomacy, music and incarceration, and the violin. He has written five books: Capturing Sound: How Technology has Changed Music, The Violin: A Research and Information Guide, Groove Music: The Art and Culture of the Hip-Hop DJ, Build: The Power of Hip Hop Diplomacy in a Divided World, and Music and Technology: A Very Short Introduction. His most recent project is Rap and Redemption on Death Row, which he co-authored with incarcerated musician Alim Braxton.
Reservations must be received by Wednesday, January 15, so please mail no later than Friday, January 10, 2025 (preferably sooner).
As usual, spouses and other guests are also welcome.
** Click here for January 22, 2025 Lunch Registration Form
OR Pay by Credit Card (includes processing fee), no lunch reservation form needed.