White House Names ILR Alums

Two ILR alums have been nominated by President Barack Obama for key positions in the new administration.

Alan B. Krueger '83 has been nominated as assistant secretary for economic policy and Seth D. Harris '83 has been nominated as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor.

Krueger is a Princeton University professor and former Labor Department chief economist.

Harris is a professor at New York Law School, where he is director of its Labor & Employment Law Programs. He served as a senior advisor on policy, legal, management and strategy issues to two U.S. Labor Department secretaries.

Krueger commented last week on the influence of ILR in his career.

"There is no question that the ILR School profoundly and forever affected me," he said. "I don't think any college could have prepared me better for my career than the ILR School."

Referring to faculty members, he said, "My interactions with Bob Hutchens, John Burton, Bob Smith, Dick Butler, Bob Frank, Paul Velleman, Phil McCarthy and many others excited me about the potential for the fields of economics and statistics to improve people's lives and gave me a strong foundation for further study and research."

"I've also benefited from close interactions with Ron Ehrenberg, John Abowd, Gary Fields, Fran Blau and Larry Kahn since leaving Cornell," Krueger said.