The organization was founded as the Industrial Relations Research Association, by labor economists in the post World War II era, who found a need to expand upon discussions taking place surrounding workplace issues. For the first 52 years of the organization, the IRRA was headquartered at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In 1999, the organization moved its headquarters to the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Paula Wells became the executive director. The organization was invited to make the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations at the University of Illinois its home base, which later became known as the School of Labor and Employment Relations in 2006, with LERA past President Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld as its first dean. LERA itself changed its own name to the Labor and Employment Relations Association in 2005, in response to many changes taking place in the field, transitioning from industrial relations to the field of labor and employment relations.
Past presidents • 1948 Edwin E. Witte, University of Wisconsin • 1949 Sumner H. Slichter, Harvard University • 1950 George W. Taylor, University of Pennsylvania • 1951 William M. Leiserson, Johns Hopkins University • 1952 J. Douglas Brown, Princeton University • 1953 Ewan Clague, U.S. Department of Labor • 1954 Clark Kerr, University of California • 1955 Lloyd G. Reynolds, Yale University • 1956 Richard A. Lester, Princeton University • 1957 Dale Yoder, University of Minnesota • 1958
E. Wight Bakke, Yale University • 1959 William Haber, University of Michigan • 1960 John T. Dunlop, Harvard University • 1961 Philip Taft, Brown University • 1962 Charles A. Myers, MIT • 1963 William F. Whyte, Cornell University • 1964 Solomon Barkin, Textile Workers of America • 1965 Edwin Young, University of Wisconsin • 1966 Arthur M. Ross, University of California • 1967
Neil W. Chamberlain, Columbia University • 1968
George P. Shultz, University of Chicago • 1969
Frederick H. Harbison, Princeton University • 1970 Douglass V. Brown, MIT • 1971
George H. Hildebrand, U.S. Department of Labor and Cornell University • 1972
Benjamin Aaron, UCLA • 1973 Douglas H. Soutar, Am. Smelting & Refining Co. • 1974 Nathaniel Goldfinger, AFL-CIO • 1975 Gerald G. Somers, University of Wisconsin • 1976 Irving Bernstein, UCLA • 1977 F. Ray Marshall, University of Texas • 1978 Charles C. Killingsworth, Michigan State University. • 1979 Jerome M. Rosow, Work in America Institute • 1980
Jack Barbash, University of Wisconsin • 1980 Rudolph A. Oswald, AFL-CIO • 1982 Milton Derber, University of Illinois • 1983 Jack Stieber, Michigan State University • 1984 Wayne L. Horvitz, Consultant, Washington, D.C. • 1985 Everett M. Kassalow, University of Wisconsin • 1986 Lloyd Ulman, University of California-Berkeley • 1987 Michael H. Moskow, Premark International • 1988
Phyllis A. Wallace, MIT • 1989 Joyce D. Miller, ACTWU • 1990 Robert B. McKersie, MIT • 1991 James L. Stern, University of Wisconsin-Madison • 1992 Ernest J. Savoie, Ford Motor Company • 1993 George Strauss, University of California-Berkeley • 1994 Lynn R. Williams, United Steelworkers of America • 1995 Walter J. Gershenfeld, Arbitrator, Flourtown, PA • 1996 Hoyt N. Wheeler, University of South Carolina • 1997 Francine Blau, Cornell University • 1998 F. Donal O'Brien, Arbitrator/Mediator • 1999
Thomas A. Kochan, MIT • 2000 Sheldon Friedman, AFL-CIO • 2001 Magdalena Jacobsen, FMCS • 2002 John F. Burton Jr., Rutgers University • 2003 Paula Voos, Rutgers University • 2004 Marlene K. Heyser, Workplace Law Strategies • 2005 Stephen Sleigh, IAMAW • 2006 David Lipsky, Cornell University • 2007 Eileen B. Hoffman, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service • 2008 Anthony Oliver Jr., Parker Milliken, Clark O'Hara & Samuelian • 2009 Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • 2010
Eileen Appelbaum, Rutgers University • 2011 Gordon Pavy, AFL-CIO • 2012–13 David Lewin, UCLA • 2014 Martin Mulloy, Ford Motor CO. • 2015
Lisa M. Lynch, Brandeis University • 2016 Bonnie Prouty Castry, Arbitrator/Mediator • 2017
Janice R. Bellace, University of Pennsylvania • 2018
Harry C. Katz, Cornell University • 2019 Kris Rondeau, AFSCME • 2020 Dennis Dabney, Kaiser Permanente • 2021 Adrienne Eaton, Rutgers University
Editors • Milton Derber, University of Illinois, 1948–50 • L. Reed Tripp, University of Wisconsin, 1951–56 • Gerald G. Somers, University of Wisconsin, 1957–74 • Barbara D. Dennis and James L. Stern, Univ. of Wis., 1975–77 • Barbara D. Dennis, University of Wisconsin, 1977–89 • John F. Burton Jr., Rutgers University, 1989–94 • Paula B. Voos, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1994–2002 • Adrienne Eaton, Rutgers University, 2003–2009 • Françoise Carré and Christian Weller, University of Massachusetts Boston, 2010-2014 • Ariel Avgar, Cornell University, 2015–2019 • Ryan Lamare, University of Illinois, 2020−
Secretary-treasurers • William H. McPherson, University of Illinois, 1948–50 • Robben W. Fleming, University of Wisconsin, 1951–53 • Edwin Young, University of Wisconsin, 1954–62 • David B. Johnson, University of Wisconsin, 1963–72 • James L. Stern (Treas.), UW-Madison, 1968–69 • Richard U. Miller, UW-Madison, 1973–77 • David R. Zimmerman, UW-Madison, 1978–1999 • Peter Feuille, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2000–2014 • Craig Olson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2015–2017 • Ryan Lamare, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2018–2019 • Andrew Weaver, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2020–
Founding members • Vincent W. Bladen, University of Toronto • Eveline M. Burns, Columbia University • Ewan Clague, U.S. Department of Labor • Milton Derber, University of Illinois • William Haber, University of Michigan • Frederick H. Harbison, University of Chicago • Vernon H. Jensen, Cornell University • Clark Kerr, University of California-Berkeley • Richard A. Lester, Princeton University • William H. McPherson, University of Illinois • C. Wright Mills, Columbia University • Donald G. Paterson, University of Minnesota • Sumner H. Slichter, Harvard University • Sterling D. Spero, New York University • George W. Taylor, University of Pennsylvania • Francis Tyson, University of Pittsburgh • William F. Whyte, University of Chicago • W. Willard Wirtz, Northwestern University • Edwin E. Witte, University of Wisconsin • Harry D. Wolf, University of North Carolina • Dale Yoder, University of Minnesota
Charter members (affiliation at time became member) • Benjamin Aaron, Arbitrator, Los Angeles • Leonard P. Adams, Cornell University • Gabriel N. Alexander, Arbitrator, Detroit • (Mrs.) Jack Barbash, Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcherworkmen of NA • Solomon Barkin, Textile Workers • Irving Bernstein, UCLA • Seymour Brandwein, Bureau of National Affairs • George W. Brooks, Washington, DC • Neil W. Chamberlain, Yale University • Jesse C. Clamp Jr., Florida State University • Bernard Cushman, Labor Bureau of Middle West • Edward L. Cushman, Wayne University • G. Allan Dash Jr., Arbitrator, Philadelphia • John T. Dunlop, Harvard University • Milton T. Edelman, University of Illinois • Marten S. Estey, Cornell University • Tracy H. Ferguson, Esq., Syracuse • Joseph P. Goldberg, Jt. Congressional Comm. on Labor-Mgmt. Relations • Lois S. Gray, Cornell University • Einar J. Hardin, University of Minnesota • James J. Healy, Harvard University • Peter Henle, American Federation of Labor • Morris A. Horowitz, University of Illinois • Harriet D. Hudson, University of Illinois • Arthur T. Jacobs, USNA, New York • Howard W. Johnson, University of Chicago • Jacob J. Kaufman, University of Toledo • Clark Kerr, University of California-Berkeley • Charles C. Killingsworth, Michigan State College • Forrest H. Kirkpatrick, Bethany College • Milton R. Konvitz, Cornell University • Richard A. Lester, Princeton University • Solomon B. Levine, University of Illinois • Kenneth M. McCaffree, University of Washington • Frederic Meyers, University of Texas • James G. Miller, Cornell University • John W. Miller Jr., Ford Motor Co. • Charles A. Myers, Massachusetts Institute of Technology • Maurice F. Neufeld, Cornell University • Herbert R. Northrup, Columbia University • Lloyd G. Reynolds, Yale University • Milton Rubin, War Labor Board • Stanley H. Ruttenberg, Congress of Indus. Organizations • Sidney W. Salsburg, University of Wisconsin • Arthur W. Saltzman, Syracuse University • Richard Scheuch, Princeton University • Rosalind S. Schulman, Indus. Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers-CIO • Boaz Siegel, Wayne University • Ruth S. Spitz, Ohio State University • Arthur Stark, New York State Board of Mediation • Jack Stieber, United Steelworkers of America • Ralph I. Thayer, Washington State College • Lloyd Ulman, Harvard University • Martin Wagner, Louisville Labor-Mgmt. Comm. • Morris Weisz, Bureau of Labor Statistics • Donald J. White, Boston College • William F. Whyte, Cornell University • John P. Windmuller, Cornell University • Fred Witney, Indiana University • David A. Wolff, Arbitrator, Ann Arbor • Henry S. Woodbridge, American Optical Co. • David Ziskind, Esq., Los Angeles ==Employment Policy Research Network==