Each year hundreds of ILR Alumni and friends gather together to celebrate the School and to honor our Groat and Alpern Award winners. The Groat & Alpern Celebration is the ILR alumni event of the year. We look forward to seeing you at our next Celebration.

Judge William B. Groat Alumni Award Recipients

  • 2022 DAVID M. COHEN ’73, Former executive deputy commissioner for administration for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection
  • 2021 JOHN BICKERMAN ’78, MS ’80, Principal, Bickerman Dispute Resolution
  • 2020 KATHLEEN WESLOCK, MILR '83, Chief Human Resources Officer, Livent Corporation
  • 2019 CAROLYN D. RICHMOND '91, Attorney, Fox Rothschild LLP
  • 2018 JOAN PARKER  B.S. '70, M.S. '73, Ph.D. '74, Arbitrator and Mediator
  • 2017 FRANCINE D. BLAU '66, Frances Perkins Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations and Professor of Economics at Cornell University
  • 2016 ROBERT D. MANFRED, JR., ’80, Commissioner, Major League Baseball
  • 2015 SARA HOROWITZ ’84, Executive Director, Freelancers Union
  • 2014 PAMELA O. KIMMET '80, Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc.
  • 2013 ALAN KRUEGER ’83: Chair of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors & Bendheim Professor of Economics & Public Policy, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School
  • 2012 EVA SAGE-GAVIN ’80: Executive Vice President, Global Human Resources and Corporate Affairs, Gap, Inc.
  • 2011 BARRY HARTSTEIN ’73: Shareholder, Littler Mendelson, P.C.
  • 2010 LAURIE BERKE-WEISS '71: Founder of Berke-Weiss & Pechman LLP SETH HARRIS '83: Undersecretary of Labor, the second highest position in the U.S. Department of Labor
  • 2009 BONNIE SIBER WEINSTOCK '75: Labor and Employment Arbitrator
  • 2008 MARK E. BROSSMAN ’75: Partner/Attorney, Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP ROBERT A. MOLOFSKY ’72, Vice-President/Special Counsel of the AFL-CIO Investment Trust Corporation (ITC)
  • 2007 JAY W. WAKS ’68, LAW, ‘71: Partner/Attorney, Kaye Scholer LLP
  • 2006 MARTIN SCHEINMAN ’75: Arbitrator/Mediator
  • 2005 HARRIS L. RAYNOR ’69: Southern Regional Director and International Vice President of UNITE HERE
  • 2004 GARY B. BETTMAN ’74: Commissioner, National Hockey League
  • 2003 ELIZABETH D. MOORE ’75: Partner/Attorney, Nixon Peabody LLP
  • 2002 PAUL SALVATORE ’81: Partner/Attorney, Proskauer Rose, LLP
  • 2001 RANDI WEINGARTEN ’80: President, United Federation of Teachers
  • 2000 FRANCIS N. BONSIGNORE ‘68: Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Administration, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.
  • 1999 BRUCE S. RAYNOR ’72: Secretary-Treasurer, Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees, AFL-CIO
  • 1998 DAVID B. LIPSKY ’61: Professor, School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University and director, Cornell/PERC Institute on Conflict Resolution
  • 1997 KENNETH F. KAHN ‘69: President, LRP Publications and Human Resource Executive Magazine
  • 1996 CAROLYN J. JACOBSON ‘72: Director of Public Relations, Bakery, Confectionery and Tobaccao Workers International Union, AFL-CIO
  • 1995 SHEILA H. AKABAS ‘51: Professor and Director of the Workplace Center, Columbia University School of Social Work
  • 1994 STEPHEN A. PLOSCOWE ‘62: Partner, Grotta, Glassman & Hoffman, P.A.
  • 1993 VICKI A. SAPORTA ‘74: Director of Organizing, International Brotherhood of Teamsters
  • 1991 EILEEN BARKAS HOFFMAN ‘69: General Counsel, Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service
  • 1990 THEODORE HAWRYLUK ‘49: Director, Employee Services and Programs, Philip Morris Management Corporation
  • 1989 ROBERT F. RISLEY M.S. ’49, Ph.D. ‘53: Professor, School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University
  • 1988 No awardee
  • 1987 CARL D. BEHNKE ‘61: V.P., Human Resource Management Division, Edison Electric Institute
  • 1986 JOAN GREENSPAN ‘64: National Director, Industrial Organizing, Screen Actors Guild
  • 1985 STANLEY L. AIGES ‘58: Labor-Management Arbitrator
  • 1984 SAUL G. KRAMER ‘54: Attorney-at-Law
  • 1983 WALTON E. BURDICK ‘55: V.P., Personnel, IBM Corporation
  • 1981 MARCIA L. GREENBAUM ‘62: Labor-Management Arbitrator and JACOB SEIDENBERG ‘51: Labor-Management Arbitrator
  • 1980 PETER CUSACK ‘56: V.P., Personnel, ABC
  • 1979 JACK GOLODNER ‘53: Director, Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO
  • 1978 HARRY T. EDWARDS ‘62: Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School
  • 1977 PAUL YAGER M.S. ‘49: Director, Region I, Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service and WILLIAM J. KILBERG ‘66: Attorney-at-Law and Former Solicitor of Labor
  • 1976 RICHARD GOLDSTEIN ‘49: V.P. of Labor Relations, NBC
  • 1975 GERALD L. DORF ‘57: Counselor-at-Law
  • 1974 PAUL J. FASSER, JR. ‘51: Assistant Secretary of Labor for Labor-Management Relations, US Dept. of Labor
  • 1973 ROBERT D. HELSBY EdD. ‘58: Chairman, NYS Public Employment Relations Board
  • 1972 CHRIS ARGYRIS Ph.D. ‘51: James Bryant Conant Professor of Education and Organizational Behavior, Harvard University
  • 1971 ERIC F. JENSEN ‘51: V.P., Industrial Relations, ACF Industries and JACOB SHEINKMAN ‘49: General Counsel, Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, AFL-CIO

Jerome Alpern Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients