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ILR at 80

Since opening in November 1945, the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations has had an impact on unions, corporations, governments and non-profit organizations in New York state and around the world.

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Alumni Stories

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Groat and Alpern 2026 Recipients Announced

Kenneth Kirschner ’75 will receive the ILR School’s 2026 Groat Award and Stephen H. Goodman ’65 will receive the 2026 Alpern Award on March 26 at The Plaza Hotel in New York City.
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Groat and Alpern 2026 Recipients Announced

Inspiring Students to Become Global Citizens Through Engaged Learning

Richard “Dick” Fincher ’73, who has been instrumental in creating and teaching the Vietnam Engaged Learning Program and the Hopi & Navajo Engaged Learning Program, has announced his intention to slow down and gradually retire from teaching, but the legacy he has created will continue.
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Inspiring Students to Become Global Citizens Through Engaged Learning

Cookie Day Turns 25!

This fall, Catherwood Library has hosted its 25th annual Cookie Day, a tradition beloved by ILRies.
Steve Calco and Jim DelRosso at Cookie Day in 2025.
Cookie Day Turns 25!

Student Story: “Never Say ‘No’ to Yourself”

McKenna “MJ” Raade ’25 "wanted to sample everything" before settling on a career path. She had that opportunity at the ILR School before entering the UCLA School of Law this fall.
McKenna “MJ” Raade ’25 during her time in the ILR/UCS Semester in Dublin Program.
Student Story: “Never Say ‘No’ to Yourself”

Peter Bamberger Wraps Up Successful Run as AOM President

Peter Bamberger, ’82, M.S. ’84, Ph.D. ’90, recently concluded his run as president of the Academy of Management, the world’s largest professional association for management and organization scholars.
Peter Bamberger passes the gavel to new AOM President Tammy Madsen at the 85th Annual Academy of Management Conference, held in July 2025, in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Peter Bamberger Wraps Up Successful Run as AOM President

Fireside Chat Sparks ILRie Career

A chain of events that began for Melanie Stewart ’10 in her sophomore year in the ILR School led first to an internship and later to a legal career on the business side of labor and employment law that emphasizes prevention and partnership.
Melanie Stewart ’10
Fireside Chat Sparks ILRie Career

ILR Donors Make All the Difference

To Do the Greatest Good

The ILR community everywhere is continuing to do the greatest good. Each year, ILR alumni, parents and friends come together to support the ILR School to ensure all students have the resources they need to be successful. Each year, the school recruits and retains faculty who are outstanding educators and leading researchers.

Your gift helps ILR remain the preeminent school focused on work, employment and labor. ILR is proud to be developing the thought leaders and practitioners shaping the future of work, and your gift advances this mission.

Please read our ILR Case for Support here

Learn more about giving to the ILR School here.

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News

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Peter Bamberger Wraps Up Successful Run as AOM President

Peter Bamberger, ’82, M.S. ’84, Ph.D. ’90, recently concluded his run as president of the Academy of Management, the world’s largest professional association for management and organization scholars.
Peter Bamberger passes the gavel to new AOM President Tammy Madsen at the 85th Annual Academy of Management Conference, held in July 2025, in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Peter Bamberger Wraps Up Successful Run as AOM President

ILRie Harold Tanner ’52, Board Chairman Emeritus, Dies at 93

Cornell Chronicle
Harold Tanner ’52, chairman emeritus of the Cornell Board of Trustees, died June 14 in New York.
Harold Tanner ’52, chairman emeritus of the Cornell Board of Trustees, at Commencement 2013.
ILRie Harold Tanner ’52, Board Chairman Emeritus, Dies at 93

Kheel Center to Celebrate “ILR at 80” During Reunion Weekend Exhibit

An exhibition celebrating the history and evolution of the ILR School, from its founding in 1945 to the present day, will be on display in the Catherwood Library lobby as part of Cornell Reunion Weekend. 
ILRies utilizing the Kheel Center archives.
Kheel Center to Celebrate “ILR at 80” During Reunion Weekend Exhibit

Events

Emerging Tech Dialogues - The Future of Work: People, Process, and Technology

Alexander Colvin, the Kenneth F. Kahn Dean and Martin F. Scheinman Professor of Conflict Resolution at the ILR School, will be a keynote speaker for the upcoming event "Emerging Tech Dialogues - The Future of Work: People, Process, and Technology." Dean Colvin’s research and teaching focuses on employment dispute resolution, with a particular emphasis on procedures in nonunion workplaces and the impact of the legal environment on organizations. His current research projects include empirical investigations of employment arbitration and cross-national studies of dispute resolution. He has published articles in journals such as ILR Review, Industrial Relations, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Relations Industrielles, Academy of Management Journal, Personnel Psychology, the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, and the Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution. He is the co-author of An Introduction to U.S. Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations, Labor Relations in a Globalizing World, The Oxford Handbook of Conflict Management in Organizations, and Arbitration Law. He is an academic fellow of the Labor and Employment Relations Association. Dean Colvin will join the other keynote speaker, Elizabeth Mannix, Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Management at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, and Ithaca CIO Ben Maddox in a panel discussion about the events’ themes. The all-day event will be held in person at Statler Hall on the Ithaca Campus and virtually via Zoom on Tuesday, October 14, 2025 from 9am to 4pm. Register free through the online form. The perspectives of the two keynote speakers plus breakout and poster sessions on topics ranging from AI, to data handling and analysis, to techniques for effective teams will make for a day of growth, discovery, and creative spark. Reserve your place today and we’ll see you in person or on Zoom on October 14!

Localist event image for Emerging Tech Dialogues - The Future of Work: People, Process, and Technology
Emerging Tech Dialogues - The Future of Work: People, Process, and Technology

Disability Disclosure and the Interactive Process

Free webinar answers a variety of questions about disclosure in the workplace
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Disability Disclosure and the Interactive Process

A Paradigm Shift to Social Europe?

A Paradigm Shift to Social Europe: The impact of the EU Minimum Wage directive on the strengthening of collective bargaining in Europe The EU Minimum Wage Directive, adopted in 2022, marks a paradigm shift in EU labor policy. While the EU has long contributed to weakening trade unions and collective bargaining systems through its liberalization policy, the new directive now explicitly aims to strengthen labor market institutions. In order to promote adequate minimum wages, statutory minimum wages should be raised and collective bargaining systems strengthened all over Europe. The Directive obliges all EU member States with collective bargaining coverage of below 80% to establish national action plans to promote collective bargaining, with the aim of progressively increasing collective bargaining coverage. The presentation will discuss the implementation of the directive in individual Member States to date and identify the most important instruments that can contribute to higher collective bargaining coverage. Prof. Dr. Thorsten Schulten is head of the Collective Agreement Archive of the Institute for Economic and Social Research (WSI) of the Hans Böckler Foundation which is closely related to the German trade unions. He is also teaching as an honorary professor at the University of Tübingen. Further reading: Torsten Müller and Thorsten Schulten, The road to 80% collective bargaining coverage. The need for ambitious national action plans under the Minimum Wage Directive, ETUI Policy Brief No. 1/2025, Brussels, https://www.etui.org/publications/road-80-collective-bargaining-coverage Host Institute for European Studies Co-host School of Industrial and Labor Relations

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A Paradigm Shift to Social Europe?

Labor Economics Workshop: Lisa Kahn

Lisa Kahn

Localist event image for Labor Economics Workshop: Lisa Kahn
Labor Economics Workshop: Lisa Kahn

Celebrating Value and Talent: Supporting Employees through Stay-at-Work/Return-to-Work Programs

Free webinar about effective stay-at-work/return-to-work programs
Two workers wearing hard hats. One holds a tablet and is supervising the other.
Celebrating Value and Talent: Supporting Employees through Stay-at-Work/Return-to-Work Programs

Status: What Is It? Why Does It Matter For Race And Gender Inequality?

Please join us for the Alice Cook-Lois Gray Distinguished Lecture. Our honored speaker is Cecilia Ridgeway, M.A. ’69, Ph.D. ’72, the Lucie Stern Professor of Social Sciences, Emerita, in the Sociology Department at Stanford University.
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Status: What Is It? Why Does It Matter For Race And Gender Inequality?

Meet our Team

Jennifer Sellen Dean

  • Assistant Dean of Alumni Affairs and Development

Harlan Work

  • Gift Officer

Penny Lane Spoonhower

  • Assistant Director

Amanda DeLee

  • Program Assistant

Alyssa Cooper

  • Gift Officer