The PURA Monthly Luncheon Series features a variety of speakers and an opportunity for retirees to visit with friends and neighbors. Retirees are invited to eat lunch beginning at 11 a.m. at the MCL Cafeteria in West Lafayette on the first Monday of each month. Programming begins at noon in the Purdue Room.

Dates and speakers for recent and upcoming luncheons are:

Oct. 5: Speaker: Gus Nyberg, executive director of NICHES Land Trust. Topic: The Northern Indiana Citizens Helping Ecosystems Survive (NICHES). Coordinator: Ken Burns.

Nov. 2: Speaker: Tom Peck, St. Elizabeth Regional Health vice president of plant operations. Topic: St. Elizabeth Hospital East. Coordinator: Lanny Wilson.

Dec. 7: Speaker: John Collier, Purdue's director of campus planning. Topic: Purdue Campus Master Plan. Coordinator: Olivia Wood.

Jan. 4: Speaker: Don Gentry, special assistant to the Purdue provost. Topic: Higher Education in the United Arab Emirates. Coordinator: Chip Rutledge.

Feb. 1: Speaker: West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis. Topic: State of the City -- West Lafayette Today and into the Future. Coordinator: Sarah Johnson.

March 1: Speaker: Paul Shepson, Purdue professor of analytical and atmospheric chemistry and director of the Purdue Climate Change Research Center. Topic: Climate change.  Coordinator: Joyce Koelzer.

April 5:  Speaker: Henry Ryder. Topic: Characterization of James Whitcomb Riley.  Coordinator: Jack Fessler.

May 3:  Speaker: John Sautter, Purdue vice president for housing and food services. Topic: "Past, Present and Future of University
Residence Halls." Coordinator: Gene Courtaney.

June 7:  Speaker: Joe Hornett, senior vice president, treasurer, and chief operating officer for Purdue Research Foundation Inc. Topic: Purdue Research Parks. Coordinator: Norm Long.

July 5: University holiday -- no meeting.

Aug. 2: Speaker: James Lowenberg DeBoer, professor of agricultural economics, associate dean and director of International Programs in Agriculture. Topic: Timbuktu to Kabul: Purdue International Programs in Agriculture. Coordinator: Marion Baumgardner.