Alumni Stories

From an early age, Randall Brown `09, has been intellectually curious, eager to learn new concepts and ready to take on new projects.

Laurie Ann Atienza ’11 has been able to live her values, thanks to a career that allows her to fight for working people.

Learn about one ILRie’s path to public education leadership.

Alex Colvin spoke with Bob Hoyt about the effects of the pandemic on financial services and banking firms.

Coming from the Akwesasne Mohawk territory, Colin Benedict ’21 has mentored fellow Indigenous students and advocates for Indigenous rights on campus, work he hopes to continue after graduating.

ILR's Professor Harry Katz spoke with Carolyn Richmond about how the pandemic has impacted both her law practice and employers and employees in the hospitality industry.

Tonya Hallett, as an HR leader at General Motors, speaks with ILR's Ariel Avgar about how GM has changed its strategies to deal with the pandemic.

For Louis Montgomery, an ILR degree was the beginning of a successful and robust human resources career.

Follow the dream that’s in your heart. That’s what guides Lauren Myers ’97.

Fincher was the first in his family to go to college. He credits his ILR degree with giving him confidence and critical thinking skills. Since graduation, he has had four distinct careers, all related to ILR.

Alumna uses expertise to better her community

In real estate firm, Vahdat works from ground up

Having Benn born in New Zealand, Leigh Amaro was looking for an undergraduate program that would exposed to diverse cultures and give her the opportunity to learn about international companies. She chose ILR.

Alum who chose management over medicine sees positive outcomes

As a child growing up in New York City, labor lawyer Cathy Creighton ’87 saw firsthand the value of unions.

New York State Sen. Michael F. Nozzolio ’73 says, “The ILR School provided me with an excellent foundation to establish my life’s work.”

Barbara Molloy had her sights set on a master’s degree from Cornell since her days as an undergraduate psychology major, with a business minor, at Ithaca College.

The western cascade of the Lick Brook gorge inspired an ILR graduate to prepare for a job that didn’t exist. Andrew Zepp ’85, CALS ’89 is now executive director of the Finger Lakes Land Trust.

McDonald used the broad-based understanding of economics, statistics and business he gained at ILR to build his career.

Roomkin gift supports ILR response to changing workplace

Forty years after its founding by Leona Barsky, ILR Women's Caucus continues to connect students with alumnae

Elyse ’80 and Andy Nathanson ’79 met as classmates in the mid-seventies, married years later, and had three children, two of whom also attended ILR — Brian ’12 and Kevin ’17. Their daughter, Alison, graduated from Cornell’s Dyson School in 2014.

Lindsay Boyajian, BS ILR ’13 and MILR ’14, was drawn to the ILR student body’s spirit of being involved as leaders on campus and found her place in that dynamic at Cornell’s eLab.

When Lloyd Robinson ’87 reflects on his time at ILR, he remembers the small classes, talented students, and professors who care deeply about their students.

JC Tretter ‘13 chose the ILR School because he wanted the flexibility to study what interested him most after completing core courses. Tretter always wanted to be a sports agent, but he has put this dream aside for a bigger dream – playing for the Green Bay Packers.

Ozlem Denizmen was 17 when she moved to the United States from Turkey, where she learned English while working as an au pair. Her sights set on an Ivy League education and with the objective to spend her life working for justice and equality, Denizmen applied to the ILR School.

Queens, N.Y. native, Seth Siegel, describes himself as an accidental ILRie. As a child, Siegel pursued a general interest in international affairs and later applied to what he thought was the International and Labor Relations School. Later discovering what the “I” actually stood for, he decided to apply anyway.

Dayna Martin fell in love as an ILR undergraduate with what she describes as the dichotomy of economics, where theories are built on the assumption that people act rationally, when in fact people do not act rationally.

Bluemercury spas and luxury cosmetics spread to Macy's stores