SMLR Info

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, the world’s first academic institute dedicated to researching capital shares and their impact on the economy, today unveiled its 2018-19 class of research fellows and announced two endowments to support the program.

Awarded on a competitive basis, the fellowships will enable 22 scholars from colleges, universities, and policy centers worldwide to research the impact of broad-based employee share ownership, equity compensation, gain sharing, profit sharing, and worker cooperatives. This marks the 10th year of the fellowship program and the first class of fellows introduced since the Institute launched in March 2018.

In addition to appointing the new research fellows, the Institute today announced two Founding Supporters. The Beyster Foundation for Enterprise Development has established the J. Robert Beyster Endowed Fund with a $250,000 gift to support, in perpetuity, the Institute’s employee ownership research fellowships for applied practice and policy development. The Employee Ownership Foundation has established a $250,000 endowment to provide operational funding for research fellowships and conferences in perpetuity.

The 2018-19 research fellows will convene at the Institute’s annual Beyster Symposium in La Jolla, California from June 24 – 27. They are:

• Cecile Betit, Independent Researcher, Louis O. Kelso Fellow
• Jennifer Briggs, Former Vice President of Human Resources and Organizational Development at employee-owned New Belgium Brewery, Executive Fellow
• Robynn Cox, University of Southern California, Louis O. Kelso Fellow
• James Hayton, Warwick Business School (UK), Beyster Fellow
• Melissa Hoover, Democracy at Work Institute, Executive Fellow 
• Carla Ilten, University of Illinois at Chicago, George S. Pillsbury Fellow
• Camille Kerr, The ICA Group, Executive Fellow
• Jung ook Kim, Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, Louis O. Kelso Fellow
• Michael Lee, Harvard Business School, Bill and Connie Nobles Fellow
• Christopher Mackin, Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, Ray Carey Fellow
• Lucas McGranahan, University of California at Santa Cruz, Corey Rosen Fellow
• Phil Melizzo, College of Wooster, Joseph Cabral Fellow
• Christopher Michael, Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, Louis O. Kelso Fellow
• Bill Nobles, Retired CEO of Exxon Central Services, Executive Fellow
• Graeme Nuttall OBE, Partner in the European law firm Fieldfisher (London) and former independent adviser to the UK Government on employee ownership, Executive Fellow
• Erik Olsen, University of Missouri at Kansas City, Senior Fellow
• Michael Paz, Cornell University, Rob Edwards Fellow
• Nathan Schneider, University of Colorado at Boulder, Louis O. Kelso Fellow
• Marshall Vance, University of Michigan, Joseph Cabral Fellow
• Karla Walter, Center for American Progress, Louis O. Kelso Fellow
• Dan Weltmann, Western Connecticut State University, Kevin Ruble Fellow
• Trevor Young-Hyman, University of Pittsburgh, Bill and Connie Nobles Fellow

Click here for more information about the fellows and their research topics.

Joseph Blasi, the J. Robert Beyster Distinguished Professor, is the Director of the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations. Douglas Kruse, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Distinguished Professor, and J. Robert Beyster Faculty Fellow, serves as Associate Director. Blasi, Kruse, and Harvard Professor Richard Freeman, co-authors of the book The Citizens Share: Reducing Inequality in the 21st Century, serve as faculty mentors to the research fellows, joined by senior scholars at other institutions.

The Beyster family established the research fellowship program and endowed professorship in 2008. Today, it is one of the largest fellowship programs at Rutgers University with a growing network of more than 100 research fellows and faculty mentors around the world.

Press Contact

Steve Flamisch, Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations

848.252.9011 (cell), steve.flamisch@smlr.rutgers.edu

About Us

The Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations is the world’s leading source of expertise on managing and representing workers, designing effective organizations, and building strong employment relationships.

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