Skip to main content
ILR Building in Ithaca, NY

Message from the Dean

Dean Colvin speaking with students.

The world of work has evolved tremendously in recent years and the pace of change continues to accelerate as we look to the future. At ILR, we study work, labor and employment and make sense of this complex ecosystem that impacts nearly every person on our planet. Our faculty are among the top researchers in their fields and our students are leaders in the classroom, at the university and in their communities. ILRies go on to be leaders in industry, government, law, nonprofit and academia and make significant contributions in their chosen fields. The relevance and impact of ILR education has never been greater.

- Alex Colvin, Ph.D. '99,  Kenneth F. Kahn '69 Dean and the Martin F. Scheinman '75, 'MS '76, Professor of Conflict Resolution

Our Mission

As the preeminent educational institution in the world focused on work, employment and labor, we are dedicated to generating and disseminating knowledge that improves the lives of workers and transforms the future of work.

As a New York land-grant college, we positively impact individuals and society through:

  • Teaching: Creating an engaging and challenging learning environment focused on the development of critical-thinking and problem-solving skills that develop the next generation of leaders.
  • Research: Generating innovative and relevant research in the social sciences that is focused on work, employment and labor that influences public policy, informs organizational strategy and improves professional practice.
  • Outreach: Applying thought leadership and research into practice for workers, unions, organizations and communities.

Our Vision

We exist to drive positive change in work, employment and labor that advances the world of work.

the cornell tower with cherry blossoms

Our History

Founded in 1945 as the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, the ILR School today is advancing the world of work through teaching, research and outreach. ILR’s mission is to prepare leaders, inform national and international employment and labor policy, and improve working lives, but as the world of work evolves, the school’s focus broadens to keep pace with that change.

Read more about our history

ILR Leadership Team

Alexander Colvin

  • Kenneth F. Kahn '69 Dean
  • Martin F. Scheinman ’75, MS ’76, Professor of Conflict Resolution

Kate Griffith

  • Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Diversity, and Faculty Development
  • Jean McKelvey-Alice Grant Professor

Ariel Avgar, PhD

  • David M. Cohen ’73 Professor of Labor Relations, ILR School
  • Senior Associate Dean for Outreach and Sponsored Research
  • Director, Center for Applied Research on Work (CAROW)

Kara M. Lombardi

  • Assistant Dean for Student Experience and Wellbeing

Jennifer Sellen Dean

  • Assistant Dean, ILR AAD

Craig Wren Wiggers

  • Interim Associate Dean for Finance and Administration

David A. Yantorno

  • Assistant Dean of Communications, Marketing, and Web

ILRies study work to make an impact. They represent the most diverse student body at Cornell University, and go on to be leaders in industry, government, law, nonprofit and research.

One M.S. Degree, Two Passions

What attracted Dylan Hatch M.S. ’25 to the ILR M.S. program was that it would allow him to combine his passions, and he has now graduated with enhanced qualifications for doing research to support justice in the labor movement.
Dylan Hatch
One M.S. Degree, Two Passions

M.S. Program Leads to Job as Union Representative

The ILR School’s M.S. degree program has propelled Ariana Shapiro, M.S. ’25 to a job as a program representative with the New York State Nurses Association.
Ariana Shapiro, M.S. ’25
M.S. Program Leads to Job as Union Representative

Lord Lauds M.S. Degree Focus on Research

A strategic campaign planner and organizer with Strippers United, Meagan Stoney Lord M.S. ’25 has found that the ILR School’s M.S. program has given her the tools to conduct the community-focused research that will assist her in the union’s fight for a more just and equitable workspace.
Meagan Stoney Lord M.S. ’25
Lord Lauds M.S. Degree Focus on Research

Our faculty make up the world's leading researchers focused on work, labor and employment. They study every aspect of the world of work from varied and interdisciplinary disciplines.

Five ILRies Win 2025 SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence

Cornell Chronicle
Sarah Besky, Rhonda Clouse, Brian Lucas, Devon Proudfoot and Lisa Rose were amoung the 18 faculty and staff in Cornell’s four contract colleges who received the 2024–25 State University of New York (SUNY) Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence.
The ILR banner hanging outside Ives Hall
Five ILRies Win 2025 SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence

Cornell Atkinson Awards Catalyze Solutions in Food, Climate, Clean Energy

Cornell Chronicle
Sarosh Kuruvilla and Jason Judd, of the ILR School’s Global Labor Institute, have secured a grant from the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability to study apparel factories in Bangladesh and assess how they can adjust to the threat of climate change.
Missing alt
Cornell Atkinson Awards Catalyze Solutions in Food, Climate, Clean Energy

Gali Racabi Receives 2025 Carpenter Advising Award

Cornell Chronicle
Gali Racabi is one of four Cornell faculty members to win a Kendall S. Carpenter Memorial Advising Award, which recognizes the sustained and distinguished contributions of tenure-track faculty and senior lecturers to advising undergraduates.
Gali Racabi speaks at an ILR event in 2024
Gali Racabi Receives 2025 Carpenter Advising Award

As a New York State land-grant college, we apply research into practice for workers, unions, organizations, and communities to improve the world of work. We build community partnerships and trainings to improve workers’ lives across the world and contribute to an organization’s success.

Climate Jobs Institute Charts New York’s Clean Energy Progress and Path Ahead

On April 30th, Cornell ILR’s Climate Jobs Institute (CJI) released Update on New York’s Renewable Energy Policies, Plans and Progress, a report on how the Empire State is advancing towards its clean energy goals under the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA).
solar workers
Climate Jobs Institute Charts New York’s Clean Energy Progress and Path Ahead

Working Together Emphasized at YTI Conference

Hosted by the Yang-Tan Institute on Employment and Disability, the conference Working Together: Advancing Disability Inclusion in NYS Workplaces brought together leaders, providers, educators, and self-advocates for presentations and conversations.
Susanne Bruyere, speaking at the Working Together conference
Working Together Emphasized at YTI Conference

Worker Voice and AI in the Workplace

Researchers Virginia Doellgast, Ines Wagner, and Sean O’Brady found that works councils and unions in Germany and Norway were able to successfully negotiate the implementation of AI in their workplaces. Here we highlight some key findings unions, worker representatives, and policymakers can apply in other settings.
Photo of computer screen and headset with microphone
Worker Voice and AI in the Workplace

ILR Resources

Faculty and Staff Resources

Find information and links to many departments and services within the ILR School, including technology services, room bookings, and the Dean's Office.

people walk past round window of Catherwood Library
Resources

It's quick and easy to give online. Fill in our giving form to make a one-off, scheduled, or recurring gift.

red canvas texture
Make your gift

Contact Us

Undergraduate Admissions
Cornell University, ILR School
216 Ives Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
Tel: (607) 255-2222
ilr_admissions@cornell.edu

Graduate Programs
Cornell University, ILR School
218 Ives Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
Tel: (607) 255-1522
ilrgradapplicant@cornell.edu

Find other contact information and departments here.