Derber Lectures
The Annual Milton Derber Lecture was instituted in 1990 to honor Professor Emeritus Milton Derber.
Besides honoring Derber, the lecture was established to serve as a focal point for the intellectual enrichment for the school, its faculty and its students, as well as for the university community. Nationally known experts in a variety of employment relations subject areas are featured in this event, which is open to the public.
The School of Labor and Employment Relations gratefully acknowledges the endowment of Clara Derber Bloomfield, Albert de la Chapelle and Charles Derber in honor of Milton and Zelda Derber for the LER Annual Milton Derber Lecture on Industrial Relations. Their generous gift recognizes the scholarly achievements of Professor Milton Derber in research, teaching and leadership in the field of industrial relations.
| Date | Topic & Speaker |
| April 16, 2019 | The Middle Class, Democracy and Unions: Why you can’t have one without the others Karen Nussbaum, Founder of 9to5, the national association of Working Women and of District 925, SEIU, and collaborated with Jane Fonda on the iconic movie 9 to 5 |
| April 2, 2018 | Importance of Unions for Working People DeMaurice Smith, Executive Director of National Football League Players Association |
| April 10, 2017 | Domestic Outsourcing, Rent Seeking, and Increasing Inequality Eileen Appelbaum, Senior Economist, Center for Economic and Policy Research |
| April 5, 2016 | Alito-ism and Judicial Amendments Ellen Dannin, author of Working Free – The Origins and Impact of New Zealand’s Employment Contracts Act (Auckland University Press) and Taking Back the Workers’ Law – How to Fight the Assault on Labor Rights (Cornell University Press) |
| April 20, 2015 | Overview of Past Research, Current Developments, and Agenda for Future Research. Tim Judge, Schurz Professor of Management, Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame |
| April 2, 2014 | After Industrial Democracy: The Eclipse of Labor’s 20th Century Ideal and the Search for a New Paradigm Joseph McCartin, Professor of History/Director of the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor, Georgetown University |
| April 1, 2013 | Labor and Finance in the United States Sanford M. Jacoby, Howard Noble Distinguished Professor at UCLA Anderson School of Management |
| Dec. 11, 2011 | Labor Law, Economic Justice, and Political Rhetoric Wilma Liebman, Chair, National Labor Relations Board (retired) |
| April 29, 2010 | Guns, Hired Guns and Warm Bodies Stephen R. Barley, Richard Weiland Professor, Co-Director, Center for Work, Technology and Organization, Department of Management, Science and Engineering, Stanford University |
| April 16, 2009 | The Role of Government when Labor Markets, Financial Markets and Product Markets Collide Lisa M. Lynch, Dean and Professor of Economics at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University |
| April 29, 2008 | Bargaining Innovations when the Future of an Industry is at Stake: The 2007 UAW-Ford Negotiations Speakers: Bob King, Vice President and Director, UAW Ford and CS/IPS Departments; Marty Mulloy, Vice President, Global Labor Affairs, Ford Motor CompanyPanelists: Wendy Fields-Jacobs, Top Administrative Assistant to Vice President Bob King, UAW Dan Brooks, Assistant Director to Vice President Bob King, UAW Chuck Browning, Assistant Director to Vice President Bob King, UAW Joe Gafa, Assistant Director to Vice President Bob King, UAW Bill Dirksen, Executive Director, US Labor Affairs, Ford Marilyn Bingamen, Director, Global Labor Strategy & Negotiations Planning, Ford Jack Halverson, Manager, Union Relations, Ford Bridgette Morehouse, Manager, Negotiations Planning, Ford |
| May 1, 2007 | Good Jobs, Good Service: Redesigning Service Sector Work in the Global Information Age Rosemary Batt, Alice Hanson Cook Professor of Women and Work, Cornell University |
| April 4, 2006 | National Culture and People Management: Claims and Evidence Barry Gerhert, Professor of Management and Human Resources; Bruce R. Ellig Distinguished Chair in Pay & Organizational Effectiveness; Director, Strategic Human Resources Program, University of Wisconsin, School of Business |
| April 11, 2005 | The Economic Benefits of Workforce Diversity: Promises & Progress Susan Jackson, Professor of Human Resource Management, Rutgers University, School of Management and Labor Relations |
| April 1, 2004 | Can Increased Organizing Reverse the Declines of Unions in the U.S.? Lessons from the Last Quarter Century Henry Farber, Professor of Economics, Princeton University, Economics Department |
| April 8, 2003 | The Supreme Court, Access to Higher Education, and Building an Integrated Workplace Nancy Cantor, Chancellor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| April 22, 2002 | Money and Motivation Sara L. Rynes, John F. Murray Professor of Management; Chair of Department of Management and Organizations, University of Iowa, Tippie College of Business |
| March 30, 2001 | The Gender Pay Gap: Going, Going…But Not Gone Francine D. Blau, Frances Perkins Professor of Industrial & Labor Relations; Research Director of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations; Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA, Cornell University, School of Labor & Industrial Relations |
| April 12, 2000 | Human Resources & Business Performance: What Works, What Doesn’t, and Why David Lewin, Neil H. Jacoby Professor of Management, UCLA, Human Resources & Organizational Behavior, Anderson Graduate School of Management |
| April 20, 1999 | Culture and Negotiation DeWitt W. Buchanan, Jr. Professor Dispute Resolution and Organizations, Northwestern University, Organization Behavior Dept., Kellogg Graduate School of Management |
| April 30, 1998 | The New Deal at Work: Managing Without Commitment Peter Cappelli, Professor and Chair, Management Dept.; Director, Center for Human Resources; Co-Director, National Center on the Educational Quality of the Workforce, University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School |
| April 2, 1997 | Rosies, Flight Girls, and Waitress Moms: Working Women & Economic Justice in Post-War America Dorthy Sue Cobble, Associate Professor, Rutgers University, School of Management & Labor Relations |
| April 18, 1996 | Labor’s Time: Rebuilding Union Influence Richard L. Trumka, Secretary-Treasurer, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO); President Emeritus, United Mine Workers of America, AFL-CIO |
| April 18, 1995 | Changing National Labor Policy: The Role of the Dunlop Commission Thomas A. Kochan, George M. Bunker Professor of Management; Member, Commission of the Future of Worker-Management Relations, Massachusetts School of Technology, Sloan School of Management |
| April 12, 1994 | Women in the Workplace and the Role of the Glass Ceiling Commission Joyce D. MIller, Executive Director, Glass Ceiling Commission, U.S. Department of Labor |
| April 13, 1993 | Joint Action for a Healthy Economy Irving Bluestone, Professor of Labor Studies; Retired Vice President of United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America – UAW, Wayne State University, College of Urban, Labor and Metropolitan Affairs |
| Jan. 23, 1992 | The International Exchange of Ideas in Industrial Relations John Niland, Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Commerce & Economics, The University of New South Wales, New Zealand |
| October 9, 1990 | Industrial Relations: Relevant & Resilient Robert B. McKersie, Professor of Labor & Industrial Relations, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management |