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Shaping the next 75 years of work

 

Through teaching, research and outreach, we are crafting the future of work because we can draw from thousands of years of collective experience. We only just got started 75 years ago. We invite you to join in shaping the future of work.

 

Read about ILR's 75 years of impact

 

 

 

ILR graduates pose behind the school's banner that is carried during commencement

ILR Timeline

‘What Comes Next?’

Medium
Sherell Farmer ’22 strives to find her place in the world of change-making through the Newman Civic Fellowship
A sidewalk with the words Passion Led Us Here written on it
‘What Comes Next?’

Student Advocate

Jessie Mancilla, associate director of multicultural affairs, discusses his work and his aspirations for students.
Jesse Mancilla headshot
Student Advocate

Carroll Helped Develop Leaders

Gene Carroll leaves a legacy of educating current and future labor and social justice leaders.
Gene Carroll speaking at a rally.
Carroll Helped Develop Leaders

John Bickerman ’78, MS ’80

“My professors became friends,” says the 2021 Groat Award winner, in sharing his ILR experiences. “I consider them all part of my Cornell family.”
John Bickerman with Professor David Lipsky
John Bickerman ’78, MS ’80

Harold Oaklander ’52

Cornellians
Harold Oaklander ’52, the proud patriarch of a multigenerational Cornell family, will celebrate his 100th birthday this summer. A member of the fourth class to graduate from ILR, he has remained an active alumni, serving as a guest lecturer at age 97.
Harold Oaklander ’52 at work in the ILR School in 1952.
Harold Oaklander ’52

Bobbie Horowitz ’61

Cornellians
Having recently celebrated her 60th Cornell Reunion, Bobbie Horowitz ’61 continues to count the faculty at ILR and her human relations courses among the things she loved the most about her alma mater.
Bobbie Horowitz '61 and her son, David Slone ’91, JD ’94
Bobbie Horowitz ’61

75 Years - 75 Student Responses

 

Jian Hui (Barry) Wu ’20 captures the thoughts of ILR students on what it means to be an ILRie.

Watch his video.

 

 

 

Our Foundations

Maurice Neufeld

Founding faculty member Maurice Neufeld, the son of immigrants, arrived at Cornell in 1945. A history scholar, he had worked as a union organizer, a government leader and a U.S. Army officer. Along with Jean McKelvey, he designed and taught ILR’s first classes.
Maurice Neufeld
Maurice Neufeld

Jean McKelvey

Jean McKelvey was a leading national figure in dispute resolution who was sometimes mistaken as the secretary at the labor hearings she led. In 1945, she began what has become a hallmark of ILR education: connecting the classroom and the real world for students.
Jean McKelvey
Jean McKelvey

Milton Konvitz

An ILR faculty member who helped shape the lives of thousands of students across Cornell, Milton Konvitz encouraged his students to think deeply.
Milton Konvitz
Milton Konvitz

Vernon “Pete” Jensen

“Pete” Jensen could only find work as a substitute teacher for Salt Lake City public schools after graduating with an undergraduate degree in American history from Brigham Young University in 1932, during the lowest points of the Great Depression.
Vernon Jensen
Vernon “Pete” Jensen

Irving McNeil Ives

Irving M. Ives, a fixture of the New York State Legislature and the U.S. Senate for nearly 30 years, spent his career championing groundbreaking legislation, the effects of which can still be felt today.
Irving Ives
Irving McNeil Ives

ILR Deans

A number of people have served as dean or acting dean of the ILR School since Irving M. Ives began his tenure in 1945 as the school’s leader.
Aerial view of Cornell University ILR School's Ithaca, NY campus
ILR Deans