Milestones

• Ryan Lamare was named Editor-in-Chief at British Journal of Industrial Relations (BJIR) on January 1st. BJIR is a multidisciplinary, international journal of work, labor, and employment relations and is widely considered one of the most prestigious industrial relations journals in the world. The journal was established in 1963 and it primarily focuses on the institutions, policies, and practices associated with these relations and their implications for matters of economy and society.
• Johnnie Kallas and Haylee Min joined us as Assistant Professors in January.
• Bob Bruno
  • Several media hits including a CBS news story about the UAW and the Stellantis plant in Belvidere: https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/belvidere-illinois-loser-to-winner-stellantis-plant-reopens/.
  • Released his new book “What Work Is” in January.
  • Quoted in the Sun Times in an article about falling union membership since the all-time high in the 1950’s, and coverage in Bloomberg Law about pre-hire labor pacts used on major construction projects at the Port of Seattle. These pacts seemed to have no major impact on competition or construction costs and were more likely to meet diverse apprenticeship goals according to Bob’s research: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/esg/punching-in-study-finds-project-labor-deals-dont-inflate-costs-28. Finally, he was quoted in an article about the CTU’s credibility in Springfield – https://archive.ph/2024.05.08-115314/https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/05/08/ctus-credibility-questioned-in-springfield-as-their-biggest-ally-mayor-brandon-johnson-heads-to-capitol/.
  • Received a number of media hits, including a story in the News Bureau on how the labor movement should handle the challenges of AI and automation and how the labor movement looks in the US during an election year. He also had an opinion piece published in the Seattle Times.
  • Received a number of media hits in October, including an quote with WBEZ about the Chicago Public Schools, coverage about the dockworker strike, and an AP story about UAW concerns about jobs moving to Mexico.
• Michael LeRoy
  • Several media hits, and the subject of NIL has been among the most popular including an article from The Hill: https://thehill.com/homenews/education/4411867-michigan-jim-harbaugh-college-sports-unionize-ncaa-football/
  • Selected as 2024 LERA Fellow. This award recognizes scholars and practitioners who have made contributions of unusual distinction to the field and have been in the profession and field for longer than 10 years. The selection committee for the Fellow scholar title considers contributions from all disciplines such as Industrial Relations, Labor Law, Economics, Human Resources, Business, Sociology, Political Science, and Organizational Behavior.
  • Had a number of media hits, including one in NBC news about a pronounced shift in the union focus of the NLRB. His amicus case brief in federal appeals court (Johnson vs. NCAA) was largely accepted; the case will likely lead to employment for some college athletes.
  • A number of media hits in October, including one about NCAA athletes in the New York Times, an interview on WGN about the NIL,  and one in the Chicago Reader about exotic dancers.
  • Speaker at the Culture in Sports National Leadership Summit, 2024
• Dan Newman, participated in the Big 10 Academic Alliance Academic Leadership Program (ALP).
• Richard Benton
  • Participated in the inaugural cohort of the Emerging Research Leaders Academy, sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute.
  • As CJI’s Executive Director, he organized a networking reception and symposium focused on climate jobs at the annual LERA conference in June. In partnership with Lara Skinner at the Climate Jobs Institute at Cornell, Richard is fostering research and collaborations in the emerging field of labor, economic development, and the clean energy transition.
• Mengjie Lyu was interviewed for an article about whether to ask for a bonus or a raise at work in Vox: https://www.vox.com/money/23851170/bonus-raise-job-market-work-money.
• Simon Restubog
  • Appointed as the Associate Editor of Human Relations (a Financial Times 50 journal). He was also a finalist for the 2024 Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research.
  • had an accepted grant proposal (with Luke Zhu, York University and Karl Aquino, University of British Columbia) titled, “Helping or hindering? Understanding Workplace Help Rejection” that was approved for funding by the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).
•  Johnnie Kallas
  •  Labor Action Tracker is now available through the LER site, and his work on that was featured on Cornell’s site at https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/news/research/kallas-keeps-labor-track. He was also featured on NPR’s Planet Money: https://www.npr.org/2024/02/28/1197962257/2023-data-us-labor-unrest-strikes.
  • Kallas had a few media hits and publications in October. One was in the Chicago Tribune, and one in the British Journal of Industrial Relations.
• Eliza Forsythe
  • Promoted to Associate Professor.
  • Serving as an associate editor of Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society.
• Tingting Zhang
  • Received the John T. Dunlop Outstanding Scholar Award for outstanding contributions to research that address industrial relations/employment problems of national significance. This award recognizes outstanding academic contributions to research by recent entrants (must have received a terminal degree within the last 10 years) to the field.
  • Co-winner of the Luis Aparicio Prize awarded by the International Labour and Employment Relations Association (ILERA). This honor rewards emerging scholars based on their contribution to the study and research in any aspect of work, employment, labour and employment relations. It is designed to recognize outstanding contributions to research and policy by relatively recent entrants to the field.
• Christine Riordan was selected as the 2024 recipient of the Faculty Teaching Excellence Award/Walt Franke Student Development Opportunity Fund.
• Emily Twarog
  • Selected as the inaugural Ronald and Lilia Peters LER Faculty Scholar.
  • Featured speaker at the 6th Annual Bock Food Law and Policy Conference for Illinois State Bar Association in October.
• Christine Riordan, Alison Dickson, and Eliza Forsythe all received grants from the Russell Sage Foundation.
• Russell Weinstein received research funds from the Center for Advanced Study.
• Teresa Cardador
  • Received an NSF Grant for her project titled: Supporting Engineering Faculty Gender Equity by Understanding the Experiences and Career Trajectories of Women in Non-tenure Track Faculty Roles.
  • Presented in the Center for Advanced Study Food for Thought series: https://cas.illinois.edu/node/2853.
• Alison Dickson and a team of educators from across the U of I system have finished the 4th Edition of the Workers’ Rights for Workforce Development curriculum. It is available for free download from the LEP site at https://lep.illinois.edu/workers-rights/.

• Ryan Lamare and Richard Benton co-authored a paper that was accepted at ILR Review. The paper is titled “An Empirical Analysis of Race and Political Partisanship Effects on Workplace Mobility Outcomes during Lockdown, Reopening, and Endemic COVID-19,” also features co-author, LER PhD student Patricia Tabarani.
• Simon Restubog
  • Had an accepted publication with LER PhD student Grisel Lopez-Alvarez and colleague Teresa Cardador: Lopez-Alvarez, G., Cardador, M. T., & Restubog, S. L. D. (Accepted: 18.02.24). Do Women Perceive Incivility from Men as Selective? Examining Main Effects, Coping Responses, and Boundary Conditions. Human Resource Management.  This paper also received the 2023 Phillips and Nadkarni Award for Best Paper on Diversity and Cognition in the Academy of Management – Managerial & Organizational Cognitions Division.
  • Had another publication, focused on careers in STEM: Kiazad, K., Restubog, S. L. D., Hom, P., Capezio, A., & Lee, T. (in press). STEMming the tide: Perspectives on STEM careers and turnover. Journal of Organizational Behavior.
  • Had an accepted publication, along with PhD student Yaqing He:  Restubog, S. L. D., Schilpzand, P., He, Y., Lyons, B., & Deen, C. (in press). Challenging Organizational Research Theory and Findings: A Commentary on the Neglected Focus on Vulnerable Workers. Journal of Vocational Behavior. He also was published on a paper in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, led by his PhD student, Constantin Lagios:  Lagios, C., Stinglhamber, F. Restubog, S. L. D., Lagios, N., Brison, N., & Caesens. (in press). When organizational dehumanization hits home: Short-scale validation and test of a spillover-crossover model.
  • Zettna, N., Nguyen, H., Restubog, S. L. D., Schilpzand, P., & Johnson, A. (in press). How teams can overcome silence: The roles of humble leadership and team commitment. Personnel Psychology.
  • Bankins, S., Jooss, S., Restubog, S. L. D., Marrone, M., Ocampo, A. C., & Shoss, M. (2024). Navigating career stages in the age of artificial intelligence: A systematic interdisciplinary review and agenda for future research. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 153, 10411.In addition, Simon and his research team received the Best Paper with Practical Implications at the Academy of Management Conference (Managerial & Organizational Cognition Division): Deen, C., Kiewitz, Kim, J. Y., Restubog, S. L. D., Chih, Y.Y., & Tang, R. L. Helicopter bosses: Development and validation of the micromanagement scale.
  • Had a recently accepted publication with PhD student Constantin Lagios: Schilpzand, P., Lagios, C., & Restubog, S. L. D. (accepted: 09.11.2024). Family first: An integrative review of nepotism in organizations. Human Resource Management.
  • Tabarani, P., Restubog, S. L. D., Kiazad, K., Lagios, C., Schilpzand, P., & Wang, L (Sky). (in press). Heartsick for home: An integrative review of employee homesickness and an agenda for future research. Group & Organization Management.
• Amit Kramer had a publication in Journal of Industrial Relation. The title is “Inefficiencies and bias in first job placement: the case of professional Asian nationals in the United States”. The authors are: Amit Kramer, LER doctoral student Han Kwon Hee,  former LER doctoral student and Assistant Professor at Salisbury University Business School Yun-Kyoung (Gail) Kim, and Karen Kramer.
• Dan Newman had seven papers recently published in a variety of top journals, including: Journal of Business and Psychology, Organizational Research Methods, Journal of Applied Psychology, Personality Science, Journal of Business Ethics, and Personnel Psychology.
• Ingrid Fulmer had a paper accepted. Fulmer, Call, Conlon, & Klotz.  (In press). “You can check out any time you like, but can you ever leave? A theory of firm value capture from alumni.” Organization Science
• Teresa Cardador had a paper accepted at Journal of Applied Psychology (The Identity Conflict Process: Appraisal Theory as an Integrative Framework for Understanding Identity Conflict at Work, by Heather Vough, Teresa Cardador, Brianna Caza, and Emily Campion). In addition, the paper was selected as a Journal of Applied Psychology Monograph. Monographs are accepted articles that are nominated by the Action Editor and voted on by the Senior Editorial Team (all Associate Editors, authors and nominator blinded). Monographs are designated as such because they offer “broad and deep meta-theoretical treatments of a topic area” (Kozlowski, 2009, p. 2) – they are very rare (less than 1 article per year with around 1,400+ submissions annually) and the selection process is very stringent, with many nominated monographs not making it through the process.
• Richard Benton and Eumni Mun published their newest Corporate Board Diversity Report – https://ler.illinois.edu/about/illinois-corporate-board-diversity-report/.
• Andrew Weaver had two new publications accepted:
  • “Discrimination against Women in Hiring,” Economic Development and Cultural Change (https://doi.org/10.1086/729836)
  • “The impact of labor market reforms on firm training for nonregular and regular workers,” International Journal of Social Welfare (http://doi.org/10.1111/ijsw.12669).
• Tingting Zhang
  • Frangi, L. , Signoretti, A. , & Zhang, T. (Accepted June 2024). Union officers’ turnaway: Push, pull, and values in Canada, Italy, and the United States. British Journal of Industrial Relations. doi:10.1111/bjir.12822.
  • Frangi, L. & Zhang, T. (In print May, 2024). Union identity and appeal. In Gall, G. (Eds.), The Handbook on Labor Unions. ISBN:9781788215510.
  • Lewin, D. & Zhang, T. (2024). Collective bargaining in the high technology sector. In Stanger, R., Clark, P., & Delaney, J. (Eds.), Union Organizing and Collective Bargaining at a Critical Moment, 275-298.

Find the list of Teachers Ranked Excellent here.

• Constantin Lagios
  • His paper titled, “Dysfunctional rules in organizations: The mediating role of organizational dehumanization in the relationship between red tape and employees’ outcomes” was published in the European Management Journal and received the 2nd place Best Paper Award in 2023.
  • Awarded the Pola and Harry Triandis LER PhD Scholarship for summer 2024.
• Yeaseul Hur
  • Passed her Area of Specialization Exam. Her committee was Eunmi Mun, Chair, Andrew Weaver, and Matt Kraatz.
  • Married her husband Seung “Jay” Oh on July 20th.
• Sohee Kim
  • Gave birth to a healthy boy, named Ian Rhee. Congratulations!
  • Passed her Preliminary Exam. YoungAh Park was her advisor; Fritz, Teresa and Amit were the other committee members.
• Yaqing He
  • Successfully passed her Final Dissertation Exam in March. Her committee was Simon Restubog, Chair, Amit Kramer, YoungAh Park and Anne O’Leary-Kelly (University of Arkansas). She successfully deposited her dissertation to the Graduate College in April.
  • She also accepted a job offer as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in I/O Psychology at the University of Oklahoma (an R1). Big congrats to Yaquing (and advisor, Simon Restubog)!
• Kwon Hee Han was selected for the Tim Judge Fellowship for summer 2024.
• Suyeon Kang passed her preliminary exam in May. Her committee was Jiwook Jung (co-chair), Andrew Weaver (co-chair), Shinjae Won and Yusaku Takeda.
• Grisel Lopez-Alvarez
  • Passed her preliminary exam in May.  Her committee was Teresa Cardador (co-chair), Amit Kramer (co-chair), Karen Kramer, and Simon Restubog.
  • Awarded the Diversifying Higher Education Faculty in Illinois fellowship for 2024-25.
• Yon Jin Suh passed her preliminary exam in May. Her committee was Amit Kramer (chair), YoungAh Park, Shinjae Won, and Joseph Mahoney.
• Patricia Tabarani passed her Area of Specialization Exam. Her committee was Simon Restubog (Chair), Teresa Cardador, and Christine Riordan.
• The following students passed their second-year paper: 
  • Chien-Hao Chen (Jiwook Jung-1st reader, Richard Benton-2nd reader) 
  • Jiyoung Lee (Richard Benton-1st reader, Eunmi Mun-2nd reader) 
  • Nanhee Kim  (Bo Zhang-1st reader, YoungAh Park-2nd reader) 
  • Yangyi Yu (Bo Zhang-1st reader, Yihao Liu-2nd reader)

• Brooke D’Urso
  • Promoted to Assistant Director, External Relations and Operations.
  • Welcomed her daughter, Ava Rae, in April!
• Courtney Nierenhausen
  • Promoted to Office Manager.
  • Following an 8-month program, she is officially an Illini Certified Research Administrator through the office of Sponsored Programs and Research Compliance at the University of Illinois.
• Ursulla Idleman was elected president of AFSCME 3700 (UIUC support workers) and trustee of the Champaign County AFL-CIO Central Labor Council.
• Wyatt Martin, participated in the Professional Staff Leadership Academy, with staff members selected from throughout in the U of Illinois System.
• Becky Barker was asked to serve on the Graduate College’s newly formed ‘fellowship processing advisory group”. This group is comprised of key stakeholders across campus to help examine and bolster the Fellowship processing operation.
• Cory Hatfield was selected to attend this summer’s Big10 Development Conference, in its entirety. It was held here on the U of I campus in June–only a limited number of advancement officers were selected to attend from each school, so this is a great professional development opportunity.
• Nell Madigan
  • Selected to co-chair the Chancellor’s Staff Excellence Award Selection Committee for 2024-25 awards.
  • Selected as a member of this year’s Illinois HR executive virtual coaching program in collaboration with EZRA.
• Nell Madigan and Ingrid Fulmer gave a webinar for the Extension series “Extension 2040, Future Forward: Cultural Shifts Impacting Extension” on the topic of the future of work. 
• Nadja Robot from the Labor Education Program has been elected to the Staff Advisory Council (SAC).  The SAC consists of eight elected members representing each of the staff job groups on campus (clerical and secretarial, skilled crafts and trades, executive/administrative and managerial, service and maintenance, and technical and paraprofessional) and appointed representatives from various campus groups.
• Eden Haycraft was selected to join the Administrative Advisory Group (AAG) for a three-year term from 2024-2027.  The AAG discusses operational aspects of the Graduate College and provides feedback on policy and procedural changes. She was also selected to facilitate a panel at the Illinois Online Higher Education Symposium on “Navigating Title II within the Illinois System: Insights, Innovations, and Opportunities in Higher Education.” The panel will feature representatives from all three Illinois campuses and the UI system level.
• Linda Larsen
  • Joined us in December 2023 as the Associate Director for Research for the Climate Jobs Institute.
  • As CJI’s Associate Director for Research, she presented at the Illinois Renewable Energy Conference this October. Her presentation provided an overview of the renewable energy workforce needs in Illinois, based on research that CJI has done.
• Climate Jobs Institute held an inaugural staff retreat, where the team focused on strategic planning, developing the institute’s research agenda, and team building.
• Hazmat
  • The Hazardous Materials Training Program was mentioned in the latest National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences(NIEHS) report. Chris Hanson is listed as a resource for Wind Turbine Rescue and the program is referenced for the training they do with the cadets at Lincoln’s Challenge Academy and underserved students in Rantoul.
  • Hazmat has been asked to provide OSHA Hazard Communication training to high school teachers and custodians who work with hazardous chemicals in their labs and hazardous cleaning supplies. Chris Hanson taught the pilot class at Martinsville High School last month. This is a new requirement mandated by the Illinois General Assembly.
  • Chris Hanson secured a $20,000 grant from FEMA/NIEHS for the Hazmat Program to conduct flood training in St Clair and Madison counties this year.

• We sent two teams to Purdue for the annual HR Case Competition, and they represented us well. Thank you to Ashton Hubert, David Messina, and Katherine Zhang who competed in the Black Division against Minnesota, TAMU, OSU, Purdue and Penn State. Thank you also to Katie Ambrosino, Eva Fischer, Jorge Ramirez, and Emmy Soder who competed in the Gold Division against BYU, Purdue, Utah State, and Wisconsin. Both teams worked hard to present thoughtful solutions to a problem about increasing benefits usage by line workers at Eaton.
• Congratulations to Team Two, who won second place in the Gold Division! Additionally, Katie Ambrosino won the prize for best Q&A in the division.
• Anthony Gonzalez represented LER at The National Academy of Human Resources Annual Gala.