Laura J. Cooper, JD'75, Delivers 2007 Stewart Lecture
Laura J. Cooper, a distinguished scholar in the fields of labor law and
workplace dispute resolution at University of Minnesota Law School, presents
Indiana Law's second annual William R. Stewart Lecture in Labor and Employment Law
on Tuesday, Nov. 13. Her lecture "Privatizing Labor Law: The Role of Arbitrators in
Implementing Neutrality/Card Check Agreement," takes place at noon in the Law School's
Moot Court Room.
The first woman to receive tenure on the Minnesota law faculty, Cooper is known for innovations in technology- and simulation-based pedagogy. A member of Indiana Law's Academy of Law Alumni Fellows, Cooper has worked as an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board and currently serves as a labor mediator and arbitrator. She also spent four years as chair of the Labor Law Group, a term as chair of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools, and collaboration with the Minnesota Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on studies of gender fairness in the courts.
Cooper has been awarded research grants from the American Bar Foundation, the Fund for Labor Relations Studies, and the Research and Education Fund of the National Academy of Arbitrators to support her historical, analytical and empirical studies of welfare law, conflicts of law, labor law, and workplace dispute resolution.
View the video or download MP3 audio
About the William R. Stewart Lecture in Labor and Employment Law
The Stewart Lecture memorializes William R. Stewart, JD'59, via the William R. Stewart Memorial Fund for Labor and Employment Law. Stewart, who passed away in February 2004, spent 34 years with the NLRB.
President Bill Clinton termed his work with the agency "unparalleled" as he honored Stewart with the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service, one of our nation's highest recognitions, in 1997. Gould said Stewart—the first African-American to be named as NLRB chief counsel—embodied the facets of the National Labor Relations Act in seeking a positive and fair environment for American laborers.