As the preeminent educational institution in the world focused on work, employment and labor, the School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) generates and shares knowledge that improves the lives of workers and transforms the future of work.
ILR Stories
Lord Lauds MS 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 MS degree 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.
Alex Herazy ’25 and Shruthisri (Sri) Ravisankar ’24 were honored with the 2025 State University of New York (SUNY) Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence.
Led by MS ILR students, the ILR School’s Graduate Labor Organization has expanded to include other Cornell students, particularly Ph.D. candidates studying sociology.
Jonathan Lam ’27 Honored by Amnesty International USA
ILR junior Jonathan Lam was recently named the inaugural recipient of the Trailblazer in Organizing and Activism Award given by Amnesty International USA.
Hard Work, Personal Stories Bring Speech Team Big Wins
Cornell Chronicle
The Cornell Speech Team, a registered student organization sponsored by the ILR School, had the most successful season in the team’s 40-year history this past spring.
Seniors Kwon, Mackey and Treadwell Named Merrill Scholars
Cornell Chronicle
Three ILRies are among the 42 Merrill Scholars selected based on outstanding scholastic achievement, evidence of leadership and their desire to positively affect the world beyond Cornell.
Grace Kwon ’24 and Margot Treadwell ’24 were among nine students and recent graduates representing Cornell’s four contract colleges selected to receive the 2024 State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence.
ILRie Chosen as Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Fellow
Cornell Chronicle
Margot Treadwell ’24 is one of two Cornell seniors selected as junior fellows of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and will spend next year conducting research with the organization in Washington, D.C.
A connection “around a shared motivation for social justice and the importance of the labor movement in achieving better outcomes” is shared by students in the cohort, Sleigh said.
Master’s degree student persevered from prison to Ivy League
Cornell Chronicle
After serving two prison terms totaling more than four years, Thomas Jones, master's student in the ILR School, committed to turning his life around – through education and giving back.
The ILR School database that documents U.S. work stoppages informs journalists, policymakers, activists, scholars and the public about labor activism and unrest.
In appreciation for teaching that welcomes differing views, Eric Wagner ’92 is supporting the Worker Institute Undergraduate Student Research Fellows Program.
Club Explores Labor and Sports Business Intersection
ILR Sports Business Society Co-presidents Matisse Nelson ’23 and Zach Welch ’23 discuss their passion for the sports industry and how ILR is helping them to cultivate it.
Patrick Mehler ’23, a senior in the ILR School and an alderperson on the City of Ithaca’s Common Council, is a founding member and president of Cornell Votes.
