Cornell University

Graduate School

Graduate SchoolFields of Study

Industrial and Labor Relations

Field Description

Cornell offers four graduate-degree programs in the field of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR): The M.P.S. (Master of Professional Studies); M.S., and Ph.D.; and the M.I.L.R. (Master of Industrial and Labor Relations).

The M.I.L.R.
Choose one of the following areas of concentration: human resources and organizations; collective representation; dispute resolution; labor-market policy; or international and comparative labor.

Students complete a minimum of 48 credits in courses and seminars, including required courses in collective bargaining, organizational behavior, labor economics, labor and employment law, human resource management, and statistics. Candidates with a law or M.B.A. degree from a U.S. institution may be able to obtain M.I.L.R. degree in two semesters. Students interested in careers in business administration may apply for a five-semester, dual-degree program at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations (M.I.L.R.) and the Johnson Graduate School of Management (M.B.A.).

The M.P.S.
This degree is limited to individuals with professionally related work experience who wish to update their knowledge of current practices. Applicants for this degree are typically sponsored by their governments or organizations. Degree requirements include course work, an MPS project paper and a two-year commitment. Students may choose to study part-time in New York City in the M.P.S. (I.L.R.) New York program, or full time in residence on the Ithaca campus.

M.S. and Ph.D.
Candidates select major and minor subjects from the following areas: collective bargaining, labor law, and labor history; organizational behavior; human resource studies; international and comparative labor. One minor is selected from outside the ILR Field of Study.

Minors
Labor Economics and Economic & Social Statistics are offered as minors only. Minor subjects in fields outside ILR are encouraged. Each candidates program is supervised by a committee of faculty members chosen by the candidate. The average M.S. program requires two years; the doctoral program typically takes an additional three years.

Contact Information

Website: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/graddegreeprograms/
Email: ilrgradapplicant@cornell.edu
Phone: 607 255-1522

218 Ives Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY  14853

Data and Statistics

Subject and Degrees

Human Resources (Online)

Industrial and Labor Relations

Concentrations by Subject

Human Resources (Online)

  • human resource management
  • labor relations, economics, and organizational behavior

Industrial and Labor Relations

  • collective representation (M.I.L.R. only)
  • dispute resolution (M.I.L.R. only)
  • human resource studies (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • human resources and organizations (M.I.L.R. only)
  • international and comparative labor
  • labor economics (minor)
  • labor market policy (M.I.L.R. only)
  • labor relations, law, and history (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • organizational behavior (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • social statistics (minor)

Faculty

John Maron Abowd

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: international and comparative labor; labor economics
  • Research Interests: labor economics; international and comparative labor

Ariel C. Avgar

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: labor relations, law, and history (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: labor relations, law and history

Rosemary Batt

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: human resource studies (M.S./Ph.D. only); international and comparative labor
  • Research Interests: human resource studies; international and comparative labor

Bradford S Bell

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: human resource studies (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: human resource studies

Michele Belot

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: labor economics
  • Research Interests: Behavioral Economics, Labor Economics, Health Economics

Sarah Besky

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: international and comparative labor; labor relations, law, and history (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: Research uses ethnographic and historical methods to study the intersection of nature, labor and capitalism in South Asia

Dina Bishara

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: international and comparative labor
  • Research Interests: Authoritarianism, social and protest movements, state-labor relations, and the mobilization of the unemployed

Francine D Blau

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: international and comparative labor; labor economics
  • Research Interests: labor economics; international and comparative labor

Vanessa Kimberly Bohns

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: organizational behavior (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: social influence; egocentrism; moral emotions; prosocial and antisocial behavior; interpersonal relations

Brittany Bond

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: organizational behavior (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: Organizations, Labor Markets, Status, Evaluations, and Careers

George R Boyer

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: international and comparative labor; labor economics
  • Research Interests: labor economics; international and comparative labor

Mary Diane Burton

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: human resource studies (M.S./Ph.D. only); organizational behavior (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: human resources

Christopher J Collins

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: human resource studies (M.S./Ph.D. only); organizational behavior (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: organizational behavior; human resources studies

Alexander J. Colvin

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: collective representation (M.I.L.R. only); dispute resolution (M.I.L.R. only); international and comparative labor; labor relations, law, and history (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: collective bargaining; labor history; labor law

Paul Davis

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: human resource studies (M.S./Ph.D. only); human resources and organizations (M.I.L.R. only)

Ileen A Devault

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: international and comparative labor; labor relations, law, and history (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: collective bargaining; labor law; labor history; international and comparative labor

Thomas J Diciccio

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: labor economics
  • Research Interests: economics and social statistics

Virginia L Doellgast

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: international and comparative labor
  • Research Interests: international and comparative labor

Ronald Gordon Ehrenberg

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: labor economics
  • Research Interests: labor economics

Sean Fath

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: organizational behavior (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: Social perception and inequality in organizations and society

Gary Sheldon Fields

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: international and comparative labor; labor economics
  • Research Interests: international and comparative labor; labor economics

Elias Friedman

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: international and comparative labor
  • Research Interests: international and comparative labor

Shannon Marie Gleeson

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: labor relations, law, and history (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: low-wage workers, the role of immigrant documentation status, and legal mobilization; immigrant civic engagement and the bureaucratic processes of labor standards enforcement.

Michael Evan Gold

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: dispute resolution (M.I.L.R. only); labor relations, law, and history (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: collective bargaining; labor law; labor history; dispute resolution

Kate Griffith

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: labor relations, law, and history (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests:

James A Gross

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: dispute resolution (M.I.L.R. only); international and comparative labor; labor relations, law, and history (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: collective bargaining; labor law; labor history; dispute resolution; international and comparative labor

Kevin F. Hallock

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: human resource studies (M.S./Ph.D. only); human resources and organizations (M.I.L.R. only); labor economics
  • Research Interests: compensation, employee benefits; discrimination; education (organization and systems); executive compensation; human resources; incentives and performance; labor economics; wage differentials and inequality; wage systems

Tove Helland Hammer

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: organizational behavior (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: organizational behavior

John P. Hausknecht

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: human resource studies (M.S./Ph.D. only); human resources and organizations (M.I.L.R. only)
  • Research Interests: human resources; motivation; organizations; staffing and selection; employee retention

Robert Morris Hutchens

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: labor economics
  • Research Interests: labor economics

Louis Hyman

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: labor relations, law, and history (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: labor relations, law, and history

Tristan Ivory

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: international and comparative labor

George Hersch Jakubson

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: labor economics
  • Research Interests: labor economics

Lawrence M Kahn

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: international and comparative labor; labor economics; labor relations, law, and history (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: labor economics; collective bargaining; labor law; labor history; international and comparative labor

Harry Charles Katz

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: dispute resolution (M.I.L.R. only); international and comparative labor; labor relations, law, and history (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: collective bargaining; labor law; labor history; international and comparative labor; dispute resolution

Rebecca Kehoe

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: human resource studies (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: Star performers, alignment of HR systems and business strategy, and process-based perspectives of HR system design and implementation.

JR Keller

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: human resource studies (M.S./Ph.D. only); human resources and organizations (M.I.L.R. only)

Philipp Kircher

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: labor economics
  • Research Interests: Consequences of search frictions in labor markets, in particular regarding wage setting and assignment of workers to jobs.

Sarosh C Kuruvilla

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: dispute resolution (M.I.L.R. only); international and comparative labor; labor relations, law, and history (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: collective bargaining; labor law; labor history; international and comparative labor, dispute resolution

Desiree LeClercq

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: international and comparative labor; labor relations, law, and history (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: Relationship between international labor rights and broader international governance

Alice Lee

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: organizational behavior (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: Social influence, negotiations and conflict management, power and status, cross-cultural dynamics

Risa L Lieberwitz

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: labor relations, law, and history (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: collective bargaining; labor law; labor history

Adam Seth Litwin

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: labor relations, law, and history (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: employee relations; health care industry; high performance work systems; industrial relations systems; labor and society; labor relations; unions; technology and work

Brian Lucas

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: organizational behavior (M.S./Ph.D. only)

Veronica Martinez-Matsuda

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: labor relations, law, and history (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: affirmative action;comparative labor movements;community problem solving;discrimination;diversity and inclusion;gender and families;immigration and the labor force;labor history;labor rights;organizing;rights of working people;wage differentials

John E. McCarthy

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: labor relations, law, and history (M.S./Ph.D. only)

Courtney McCluney

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: organizational behavior (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: Diversity, equity and inclusion in organizations

Tejasvi Nagaraja

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: labor relations, law, and history (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: How labor and working-class history intersects with African American and foreign relations history

Lisa H. Nishii

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: human resource studies (M.S./Ph.D. only); international and comparative labor
  • Research Interests: human resource studies; international and comparative labor

Tae Youn Park

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: human resource studies (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: Employment relationship;Compensation and rewards;Turnover and retention

Devon Proudfoot

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Human Resources (Online): human resource management; Industrial and Labor Relations: human resource studies (M.S./Ph.D. only); human resources and organizations (M.I.L.R. only)
  • Research Interests: stereotyping and inequality, creativity evaluation, motivational underpinnings of organizational attitudes and behaviors

Evan Riehl

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: labor economics
  • Research Interests: Economic development; Economics of higher education; labor economics

Benjamin A Rissing

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: organizational behavior (M.S./Ph.D. only)

Seth Sanders

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: labor economics
  • Research Interests: Labor economics and econometrics with a specialization in population research

Wesley D. Sine

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: organizational behavior (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: organizational behavior

Robert Stewart Smith

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: labor economics
  • Research Interests: labor economics

Mallika M. Thomas

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: labor economics
  • Research Interests: labor economics

Pamela S. Tolbert

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: organizational behavior (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: organizational behavior

Martin Timothy Wells

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: social statistics
  • Research Interests: economic and social statistics

Eleanor Wilking

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: labor relations, law, and history (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: Tax law, employment law, and policy

Duanyi Yang

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: labor relations, law, and history (M.S./Ph.D. only)
  • Research Interests: How organizational human resource management policies operate within different institutional contexts and in the face of globalization, migration, and demographic shifts

Emily Zitek

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Industrial and Labor Relations: human resources and organizations (M.I.L.R. only); organizational behavior (M.S./Ph.D. only)