McKelvey, Jean T. Interview with Ronald Schatz, 1990-1991
Collection Number: /4165 OHT

Jean McKelvey (February 9, 1908 January 5, 1998) was one of the founding faculty at the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University in 1946, the first female member of the National Academy of Arbitrators (NAA) in 1947, the NAA's first female president in 1970, and an accomplished author of many works on arbitration and other labor topics. The first fully endowed chair at the ILR School was named the Jean McKelvey-Alice Grant Professorship of Labor-Management Relations.

A graduate of Wellesley College (AB '29, MA '31) and Radcliffe College (PhD '33), McKelvey taught at Sarah Lawrence College from 1932 to 1945. She joined the newly-formed New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations in 1946 as the school's first professor, reaching the rank of full professor in 1951. She became Professor Emerita in 1976. In addition to developing the ILR School's fields of study with Maurice Neufeld, teaching at the ILR School, and conducting scholarly research, McKelvey served on the Region II National War Labor Board (1944-1945), New York State Board of Mediation (1955-1966), the Federal Services Impasses Panel (1979-1990), and other boards and panels.

Among her many honors and awards were the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service's Special Award for Distinguished Service in Labor Management Relations (1973), Arbitrator of the Year Award from the American Arbitration Association (1983), and Distinguished Services Awards from Wellesley College (1975), the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution (1989), and the Society of Federal Labor Relations Professionals (1990).

See the Cornell University Faculty Memorial Statement for Professor Jean McKelvey: http://hdl.handle.net/1813/18133

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Jean T. McKelvey Interview with Ronald Schatz #/4165 OHT. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.

Related Collections: /3001: Jean T. McKelvey Papers /4180: Jean T. McKelvey Additional Papers /4202: Jean T. McKelvey Additional Files /4202 MB: Jean T. McKelvey Memorabilia /4202 P: Jean T. McKelvey Photographs /4208: Maurice F. Neufeld and Jean T. McKelvey, eds. "Industrial Relations at the Dawn of the New Millennium" Monograph 5154: New York City Office of Collective Bargaining Records 6038 P: Photographs Archival Collection