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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.
Groat and Alpern screen
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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Patricia Campos-Medina to be Honored as Changemaker Champion

The YWCA will recognize Campos-Medina for bold leadership that drives equity and opportunity for women and communities.
Patricia Campos-Medina with KC Wagner and Zoe West at the Leaders of Labor award ceremony in 2025.
Patricia Campos-Medina to be Honored as Changemaker Champion

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

Events

Labor Economics Workshop: Yaling Xu

Yaling Xu Does Coursework Matter? Uncovering the Role of Skills in the Returns to College Abstract: The continuing shift of the U.S. economy toward a high-skill base has increased the demand for college-educated workers. To understand how higher education prepares students for this evolving economy, a large body of literature in labor economics has focused on the causes and consequences of college enrollment, institutional selectivity, and major choice. Much less attention has been paid to a key dimension that shapes the skills students acquire in college—coursework. In this paper, I scrape and compile a new dataset of detailed course descriptions from Texas public universities. Using a large language model (GPT-4), I extract the skills students are likely to acquire from each course, focusing on two widely taught and consistently identifiable domains: quantitative and writing. I then link these course-level skill measures to Texas administrative records that track students’ educational histories and quarterly earnings. To estimate the returns to coursework-based skills, I implement an instrumental variables strategy that exploits variation in course offerings across cohorts within the same major. I find substantial early-career earnings returns to coursework-based quantitative skills, but no detectable returns to writing skills. These returns are especially large for underrepresented minority (URM) students and for students in less quantitatively intensive majors, suggesting that expanding access to quantitative coursework within majors may serve as a new lever for narrowing racial earnings gaps.

Localist event image for Labor Economics Workshop: Yaling Xu
Labor Economics Workshop: Yaling Xu

Labor Economics Workshop: Daphne Blakey

Daphne Blakey

Localist event image for Labor Economics Workshop: Daphne Blakey
Labor Economics Workshop: Daphne Blakey

When the Employer Requests Documentation of Disability

Free webinar about employer requests for medical documentation to verify disability
An office worker reviews a sheet of paper while seated at a table.
When the Employer Requests Documentation of Disability

CAHRSCast | CAHRS World-Class HRBP Framework: Talent and Leadership Capabilities

HR business partners (HRBPs), a large and critically important segment of the HR population, serve on the frontlines of helping companies navigate the future of work, yet often lack development resources and peer communities common in specialized HR areas. To address this gap, Cornell's Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies (CAHRS) has collaborated with senior HRBPs, chief HR officers, and business leaders across partner companies to develop the World-Class HRBP Framework, defining key elements of the role and setting standards for excellence.

image showing red arrow in front of others leading the way
CAHRSCast | CAHRS World-Class HRBP Framework: Talent and Leadership Capabilities

Labor Economics Workshop: Senan Hogan Hennessy

Senan Hogan Hennessy

Localist event image for Labor Economics Workshop: Senan Hogan Hennessy
Labor Economics Workshop: Senan Hogan Hennessy

Randi Weingarten on Why Fascists Fear Teachers

Join us for a discussion on her new book, Why Fascists Fear Teachers: Public Education and the Future of Democracy, moderated by journalist Steven Greenhouse.
Randi Weingarten speaking into a microphone
Randi Weingarten on Why Fascists Fear Teachers

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