Cornell University ILR School

09/21/2026

The ILR School is excited to announce that the Buffalo Co-Lab has received a generous donation to fund its High Road Buffalo Fellowship program for the next five years. 👏

The gift from James E. Miller ’88 and his partner at Miller Shah LLP, James C. Shah, will support the entire program, and the majority of the funding will subsidize student fellows’ salaries.

“I’m thankful in many ways for Jim Miller,” says Cathy Creighton ’87, executive director of the Buffalo Co-Lab. “His commitment to ILR students has been extraordinary throughout his career, and this is just the latest example of his generosity and love for the ILR School. All these opportunities created by Jim are incredibly important for both our students and for working people.”

Read more: https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/news/alumni/miller-gift-fund-high-road-buffalo-fellowship-program-five-years/i?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=organic_social&utm_campaign=buffalo

09/17/2026

Celebrating Catherwood Library’s annual Cookie Day! 🍪📚

Each year, the ILR community comes together to enjoy cookies, connect with one another, and take home free books. We hope everyone enjoyed this iconic tradition!

09/15/2026

Hear from Caralyn Cooley, Chief People Officer at FanDuel, who talks about how the MILR program changed her career pathway, helping her build confidence and gain skills through practical education! She also highlights being able to learn from her peers and benefit from Cornell's amazing alumni network.

Interested in a master's in HR? MILR applications are open! Apply today: https://bit.ly/4rbWOTh

09/14/2026

Much attention has been given to artificial intelligence displacing lower-skilled workers, but less is known about AI’s impact on professional work in high-skill fields, such as legal, finance, journalism and design, according to Sarosh Kuruvilla, who is the Andrew J. Nathanson Family Professor in Industrial and Labor Relations at the ILR School.

“Our hypothesis is that jobs at the higher end of the skills spectrum will not go away, but the nature of the work will change, and the relationship between those job holders and their organizations may also change,” Kuruvilla says.

Kuruvilla is part of a new research team that will explore AI’s impact on professional work.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4ipq0Ut

A new research team plans to explore AI’s impact on professional work through a new two-year pilot initiative housed at the K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan Yang-Tan WorkABILITY Incubator.

09/11/2026

09/10/2026

Thank you to everyone who attended the inaugural Robert and Nancy McKersie Labor Day Lecture last Friday! We were honored to welcome Bob and Nancy’s children, Liz and Bill, back to ILR for the event, which has been endowed by a generous gift from the McKersies.

Alex Colvin, the Kenneth F. Kahn '69 Dean of the ILR School and Martin F. Scheinman ’75, MS ’76, Professor of Conflict Resolution, delivered the inaugural lecture for the event, sharing an analysis of the state of labor today, drawing on insights from McKersie’s distinguished and impactful scholarship on labor relations and negotiations.

We also heard from Bob Smith, professor of economics, who shared recollections of Dean McKersie’s contributions to ILR at a critical moment in our history in the 1970s. Through hiring a new generation of scholars, McKersie positioned ILR to be on the cutting edge of the applied social sciences and built up our strength in labor economics, labor relations, human resources and organizational behavior.

Bob McKersie's legacy lives on at ILR, and we are grateful to those who gathered together to make this event such a success. ❤️

09/09/2026

📞 Calling HR professionals: EMHRM applications are OPEN!

ILR's Executive Master's in Human Resource Management degree is a 15-month hybrid program for HR professionals with 8+ years of experience. You'll learn from world-leading HR experts at Cornell University, alongside a cohort of experienced professionals.

🗣️ “I left feeling energized, excited and smarter! Being challenged by my classmates, hearing different perspectives and professional experiences reignited a new passion for HR,” said one alum.

Apply today! ➡️ https://bit.ly/4gXzbZI

09/08/2026

Join the ILR School for the Annual Milton R. Konvitz Memorial Lecture, featuring Rakesh Khurana, Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development and Unit Head of Organizational Behavior at Harvard Business School!

Khurana will deliver a lecture titled: “From Institutional Mission to Administrative Means: The Bureaucratization of Universities.”

The Konvitz Lecture is made possible through the generosity of Irwin M. Jacobs ’54, BEE ’56, and the late Joan K. Jacobs ’54.

🗓️ Sept. 17, 5 p.m. EDT
📍 105 Ives Hall or via Zoom
ℹ️ Registration is required; event details will be emailed.

Info and registration: https://bit.ly/4zWtjc9

09/04/2026

Last week, MILR, MS ILR and Ph.D. students and ILR faculty gathered at our Cornell ILR Grad Programs welcome reception. 🍪🤝 We hope you’ve enjoyed your start to the academic year!

P.S. MILR applications are now open: apply today! https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/programs/graduate-degree-programs/master-industrial-and-labor-relations-milr

09/04/2026

Reminder: the inaugural Robert and Nancy McKersie Labor Day Lecture takes place today at 1:30 p.m. EDT!

Join us in person at 105 Ives Hall, or make sure to register for the Zoom link: https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/events/inaugural-mckersie-labor-day-lecture