The School is pleased to congratulate the promotion of two outstanding faculty members. Our success is the direct result of the scholarship and leadership of our faculty, and we’re proud to highlight their accomplishments.

Eunmi Mun

Prior to joining LER in 2016, Eunmi was a postdoctoral fellow at Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University and taught at Amherst College. She holds her doctorate from Harvard University, and both master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Seoul National University. 

Professor Mun’s research interests include gender and organizations, law and organizations, work-family policies, labor market institutions, and work and employment in East Asia. She has taught courses that include Comparative Employment Relations Systems, Employment Relations Systems, Leadership for HR Professionals, and Research in Work and Organizations.

Why LER?

LER is an exciting place for anyone interested in work, employment, and organizations. I learn so much from LER faculty who study workplace dynamics and labor relations in diverse disciplinary traditions, and from LER alumni who share insights developed from their experiences in the workplace. LER staff, extremely competent and caring, make this learning possible and pleasant.

My Research

For my research, I talk to employees, HR managers, and policymakers, and try to understand different perspectives about policies to address gender inequality and increase diversity in the workplace. Bringing together those perspectives, I explain how each group helps or hinders the implementation of the policies and when the policies successfully achieve their goals. I hope that my research can contribute to constructing policies to build more egalitarian and inclusive workplaces.

What The Dean Says

“Eunmi Mun is considered a rising star for her research on gender inequality and on the institutional and organizational systems that cause it to persist. She studies how the way organizations respond to external pressure to enhance gender equality can sometimes impair women’s progress.  She has examined cross national trends in workplace gender inequality and variation in companies’ implementation of parental leave policies. Her research has appeared in many top scholarly journals. Since Illinois Public Act 101-0589, which requires corporate reporting of diversity, was delegated to our campus, Professor Mun has been one of the faculty members leading this work, which involves collecting, analyzing, and reporting on corporate board diversity and inclusion in Illinois. In addition to her active research program, she is an excellent teacher in both our MHRIR and PhD programs, and an engaged and terrific colleague.”

Dean Fulmer

Andrew Weaver

Andrew holds his doctorate and a master’s degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also holds a master’s degree from University of Maryland, and a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University. Prior to academia, he was Vice President at NCB Capital Impact and Senior Business Consultant at the ICA Group. He has started and helped start several social ventures focusing on employment in inner city areas.Professor Weaver’s research interests include labor economics, industry skill demands, workforce/employment policy, and consumer credit. He teaches courses in Firm Performance and HR Management and Workforce Policies and Partnerships.

Why LER?

I came to LER because of its unique focus on work and employment. There’s a unique community of academics and students that really is different from other departments in other universities. LER is both a broad, multi-disciplinary environment and a focused setting for exploration of key issues relating to work and workers. 

My Research

I’m a labor economist by training. I focus on policy-relevant questions regarding the operation of labor markets, with a particular focus on skills and training. Past questions that I have explored include: What is the relative demand for different skills, and is there a skills gap? Is employer use of credit checks as a hiring screen a good predictor of worker productivity, or is it just discriminatory? My current research focuses on training: Has job training been increasing or decreasing, and what factors predict which employers provide training?

What The Dean Says

“Andrew Weaver is highly regarded for his scholarly research on industry skills demands and hiring frictions, the results of which challenge the widely held assumption that large industry skills gaps exist in technical occupations in key industries in the U.S. He uses sophisticated analytic techniques and measurement approaches, together with large nationally representative business surveys, to study these and other important questions. His research has been published in the best journals in the field and has received media coverage from outlets such as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Professor Weaver is an engaging teacher with the ability to make the important, but sometimes challenging, topic of finance accessible to MHRIR students. He is actively involved in the Labor and Employment Relations Association, serving as Secretary-Treasurer, and a great colleague in LER.”

Dean Fulmer