The Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA), was founded in 1947 as the Industrial Relations Research Association. LERA is an organization for professionals in industrial relations and human resources. Headquartered at the School of Labor and Employment Relations at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, the organization has more than 3,000 members at the national level and in its local chapters. LERA is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that draws its members from the ranks of academia, management, labor and "neutrals" (arbitrators and mediators). The organization uses the slogan "Advancing Workplace Relations."

LERA's constituencies are professionals in the areas of academic research and education, compensation and benefits, human resources, labor and employment law, labor and management resources, labor markets and economics, public policy, training and development, and union administration and organizing. The executive director of LERA is Emily Smith. Past presidents of LERA include John T. Dunlop, George Shultz, and Ray Marshall, all of whom went on to serve as U.S. Secretary of Labor.

LERA encourages research into all areas of the field of labor, employment, the workplace, employer/employee organization, employment and labor relations, human resources, labor markets, income security, and the international dimensions of all of these areas. The organization takes a multi-disciplinarian approach and includes scholars from various disciplines including industrial relations, history, economics, political science, psychology, sociology, law, management, labor studies, and others.

LERA promotes full discussion and exchange of ideas between and among all of its constituencies—academic, labor, management, neutral, and government—on the planning, development and results of research in these fields, as well as its useful application in both practice and policy.

LERA is also disseminates the latest research, challenges in the field, and best practices to researchers, practitioners, and the public, by holding meetings, producing materials and publications.

The association assumes no partisan position on questions of policy in these fields, but is an open forum respecting all opinions and perspectives. The association supports fundamental worker and human rights in the workplace and supports rights of the employees, employers, and their organizations to organize.

History

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
• 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 Lynch, Brandeis University
• 2016 Bonnie Prouty Castry, Arbitrator/Mediator
• 2017 Janice Bellace, University of Pennsylvania
• 2018 Harry C. Katz, Cornell University
• 2019 Kris Rondeau, AFSCME
• 2020 Dennis Dabney, Kaiser Permanente

Editors-in-Chief

• 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
• Ariel Avgar, Cornell University, 2009–present

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, 2014–2018
• Ryan Lamare, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2018-present

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

• 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 Burea 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

Administrative staff and directors

• 1947-1967: No administrative staff (LERA's Secretary-Treasurer had an administrative assistant.)
• 1967-1982: Elizabeth Gulesserian, Executive Assistant to the IRRA
• 1982-1999: Kay Hutchinson, Administrator of the IRRA
• 1999-2012: Paula D. Wells, Executive Director, IRRA/LERA
• 2012-2015: Eric Duchinsky, Executive Director, LERA
• 2015–Present: Emily E. Smith, Executive Director, LERA