SMLR Info

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing today announced the appointment of 30 research fellows to study a powerful antidote to the stagnant wages and rising prices that have disillusioned millions of American workers. Employee stock ownership plans, worker cooperatives, and related business models enable workers to share in the market value and profits they create for their employer.

“Wages and wealth have eroded for most Americans,” said Joseph Blasi, Director of the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing. “Addressing the deep resentment of the working class requires strategies that enable workers to share in the ownership and profits of companies. Employee share ownership is one of those rare issues that enjoys strong bipartisan support, and our fellows will study how it works and develops.”

The Institute is the world’s leading academic research hub for employee share ownership and profit sharing. The fellowships are funded by major foundations, Rutgers University, employee-owned companies, and individuals interested in deepening knowledge in this growing field. The 2024-25 class is one of the largest and most diverse in the 17-year history of the program, bringing together scholars and subject matter experts from Australia, France, Ireland, Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden, the UK, and across the U.S. They are:

• Andy (John) Anderson, University of Northern Iowa, Ford Foundation Fellow
• Rob Brown, Cooperative Development Institute, Executive Fellow
• Oliver Browne, University College Cork (Ireland), Patrick J. McGovern Fellow
• Katherine Chen, The City College of New York, Faculty Fellow and Mentor
• Victor Tan Chen, Virginia Commonwealth University, Faculty Fellow and Mentor
• Adriane Clomax, Rutgers University, Rutgers Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow
• Andres Cuadros-Meñaca, University of Northern Iowa, Ford Foundation Fellow
• Jenny Everett, Everett Interests / Employee Ownership + Workplace Democracy (EO+WD) / Purpose Trust Ownership Network, Corey Rosen Fellow
• Erik Forman, City University of New York, Nachson and Arieh Mimran to.org Fellow
• Chris Griswold, American Compass, Employee Ownership Foundation/Louis O. Kelso Fellow
• Geoff Gusoff, University of California, Los Angeles, Corey Rosen Fellow
• Anne-Sophie Halbertsma, Utrecht University (Netherlands), Corey Rosen Fellow
• Matt Helmer, Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program, Executive Fellow
• Bex (Rebecca) Hewett, Erasmus University (Netherlands), Bill and Connie Nobles Fellow
• Judy Lundy, Edith Cowan University (Australia), Bill and Connie Nobles Fellow
• Christopher Mackin, Rutgers University / Harvard Law School, Ray Carey Fellow and Abby Rockefeller Fellow
• Anna-Lisa Miller, Ownership Works, Executive Fellow
• Joseph Miller, University of Northern Iowa, Employee Ownership Foundation/Louis O. Kelso Fellow
• Ana Nacvalovaite, University of Oxford (UK), Rutgers Research Fellow
• Siphelo Ngcwangu, University of Johannesburg (South Africa), Nachson and Arieh Mimran to.org Fellow
• Laura Nicolae, Harvard Business School, J. Robert Beyster Fellow
• Erik Olsen, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Employee Ownership Foundation/Louis O. Kelso Fellow
• So Ri Park, Rutgers University, Rutgers Research Fellow
• Loren Rodgers, National Center for Employee Ownership, Executive Fellow
• Bo Rothstein, University of Gothenburg (Sweden), Faculty Fellow and Mentor
• K. MacKenzie Scott, MIT Sloan School of Management, Employee Ownership Foundation/Louis O. Kelso Fellow
• Danny Spitzberg, University of California, Berkeley, Executive Fellow
• Henri (Phan Huy Hieu) TRAN, Burgundy School of Business (France), Corey Rosen Fellow
• Mila Turner, Clark Atlanta University, W.K. Kellogg Foundation Fellow
• Marshall Vance, Virginia Tech University, Joseph Cabral Distinguished Scholar and Fellow

Click here to learn more about the fellows and their research topics.

“The precarious economic situation felt by many working-class families makes it a policy priority to research and understand ways to provide greater access to share programs for the average worker,” said Douglas Kruse, Research Director of the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing. “This class of fellows joins our global network of scholars and subject matter experts who are leading critical research in the field.”

The Institute also announced that the Rutgers University Board of Governors has appointed Kruse as the new J. Robert Beyster Distinguished Professor, effective July 1. Kruse, a longtime Rutgers professor and former Senior Economist in the White House Council of Economic Advisers, succeeds Blasi, who was appointed the first endowed chair in 2011. Blasi will remain in a full-time emeritus role and will serve as a member of the Institute’s Executive Committee.

The Institute will introduce the new class of fellows and celebrate Kruse’s appointment at its annual conference on employee ownership research (January 10-12), one of the world’s largest gatherings of experts on capital shares in the workplace.

Press Contact

Steve Flamisch
Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations
848.252.9011 (cell)
steve.flamisch@smlr.rutgers.edu

About the School

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

About the Institute

SMLR’s Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing conducts empirical research, analyzes policy, and sponsors the leading global fellowship program and academic conferences in the field. The Institute also manages a program to help college professors teach about these subjects (The Curriculum Library for Employee Ownership) and a technical assistance center (The NJ/NY Center for Employee Ownership), including a new program with the State of New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

The Institute recently launched an Applied Research Laboratory funded by the Prudential Foundation. The Institute offers a free Coursera course and a free online program with short, engaging videos introducing employee ownership, sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, to show retiring business owners how to sell to their employees. This year it will host a policy analysis discussion of key share policies and will offer the new Pete Stavros Fellowships.

About the Fellowships

The Beyster family established the research fellowship program and the J. Robert Beyster endowed professorship in 2008. With generous support from the Beyster Foundation for Enterprise Development, the Employee Ownership Foundation, the Joseph Cabral Endowment, Ford Foundation, John Menke, and other donors, it has grown to become one of the largest fellowship programs at Rutgers University with more than 200 research fellows and faculty mentors worldwide.

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