Advance, Cornell ILR School's publication for alumni and friends.
Issue link: https://advance.epubxp.com/i/429746
In ILR's earliest days, classes met in leaky Quonset huts and courses were a work in progress. The "bus riding" course — Industrial Occupations and Processes — offered in the 1950s and 1960s took students deep into Pennsylvania coal mines and to corporations where innovation fore- told the nation's techno- logical future. "We visited an IBM plant and got our frst peek at the huge computers that would change our world," recalls Kathy Riefin '59, second from left above. By the 1970s and 1980s, students engaged with the community through on-site class projects. Regardless of their generation, ILR students become leaders — on campus and off. "Whether researching contracts to help labor and management fnd amicable solutions, teaching children in Ecuador skills that will help them succeed in the workplace, helping to re- invigorate the economy in Buffalo, N.Y., or using their knowledge of labor policy to help combat child labor international- ly, ILR students combine their knowledge and skills with innovative work that has real value in our world," says Cornell President David J. Skorton. "On the eve of the school's 70th anniversary, ILR students are en- gaged globally in service learning, internships and research that extend Cornell's land grant mission throughout New York state and far beyond." Today's ILR experience transcends what stu- dents of past eras would have imagined. In class- es, students converse in real-time with offcials a world away. Research and engagement ac- tivities allow them to pursue their passions — whether at home, or in Europe, South America or Asia. "On the eve of the school's 70th anniversary, ILR students are engaged globally in service learning, internships and research that extends Cornell's land grant mission throughout New York state and far beyond." — David J. Skorton President, Cornell University 8