In 1944, the New York State Legislature founded Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR), one of the nation’s first schools devoted to improving industrial and labor relations. Within two years, the Division of Extension and Public Service was formed to provide practical skills training and application to advance the world of work. Today, ILR is the country’s foremost institution in the field it pioneered.

ILR Extension’s mission is to translate relevant research into forms that are useful to managers and employees, to their companies and unions, and to policymakers.

In fulfilling this mission, sixty-five full-time extension faculty members conduct hundreds of workshops, seminars, and credit and non-credit courses, and are often joined by practitioners of labor and employment law, management and human resources, union education, mediation, and alternative dispute resolution. We also provide research, facilitation and consulting services, and technical assistance. Each year, over 40,000 adult learners who want to sharpen their skills, develop new ones, and enhance their understanding of their field participate in our programs and services. Entire industries benefit from ILR Extension’s programs, as do nonprofit organizations, public schools, and community and government agencies. Programs are often customized for specific companies and unions – and sometimes both together.

Although Extension was conceived to help labor and management in New York State, our scope and breadth continue to evolve in response to changing times. Our reach now extends across the nation and around the world. From the day our first regional center opened in Buffalo in 1946 (followed by offices in Ithaca, New York City, Long Island, Rochester, and Albany), we have demonstrated that individuals almost always know more about themselves and their work than they realize. As they teach and learn, participants add to a growing, changing, living body of knowledge.