The New York Times, January 12, 2007, Friday

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

The New York Times

January 12, 2007 Friday

Late Edition - Final

HEADLINE: Paid Notice: Deaths

JENSEN, ERIC F.

BODY:

JENSEN--Eric F., former corporate labor relations executive and arbitrator and a longtime resident of White Plains, NY, died on Wednesday, January 3, 2007, at Kendal-onHudson in Sleepy Hollow, NY, after a long illness. He was 79. The family will hold a memorial and celebration of his life later this spring. The son of Norwegian immigrants Olaf Jensen and Sigrid Anderson Jensen, he was born in Manhattan, NY, on October 17, 1927, as Finn Eric Fjell Jensen. Mr.

Jensen was a graduate of Brooklyn Technical High School (1945), Cornell University (B.S., ILR, 1951), Brooklyn Law School (J.D., 1956), and the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School (1968). He served in the U.S. Army 1946-1947 and was in Japan during 1947. He played tackle on Cornell University's championship football teams of 1948, 1949 and 1950. Known at Cornell as 'Red' Jensen, at 6 feet 4 and one-half inches and 225 pounds, he was the epitome of the Big Red. He'd always wanted to work for Bethlehem Steel Corp. He did, starting out after graduation at the company's 56th Street shipyard in Brooklyn, NY, as a safety engineer. He convinced the dock workers that wearing hard hats wasn't just for sissies. Doing so took some muscle: The family story is that his beating several dock workers at arm-wrestling helped get his point across. He worked in the shipyard days and attended Brooklyn Law nights. He then became an arbitration attorney for the company and moved to Bethlehem, PA. He was a member of Bethlehem Steel's negotiating team for some well-known strikes of the 1950s, including the historic 116-day steel strike of 1959. In 1961 he moved to ACF Industries, Inc. in New York City, where he was Vice President for Industrial Relations (1965-1979) and Vice President for Government and Labor Relations (1979-1985). Jensen was known on both sides of the table as a tough but fair negotiator. Mr. Jensen received the prestigious Judge Wm. B. Groat Award from Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations in 1971 in recognition of his contributions to the field and service to the school. He was active in Cornell alumni affairs, including serving as the chair of the ILR School's Advisory Council and was elected a life member of the Cornell University Council. After retirement from ACF, he regularly served as an arbitrator for Con Edison. He was of counsel to Epstein, Becker & Green, P.C. of Stamford, Conn. (1986-1995) and to Keane & Beane, P.C. in White Plains, NY (1995-2004). He was also an adjunct professor at the business school and the law school of Pace University in Pleasantville, NY, where he taught classes in collective bargaining and industrial relations. He was a member of St. Matthew's Lutheran Church in White Plains, where he was active in church matters, serving on the church council, including as president, for many years. He is survived by his wife, Janet C. Jensen of Sleepy Hollow, NY; two daughters, Mari N. Jensen of Tucson, AZ and Deborah B. Jensen of Seattle; his son, Eric D. Jensen of Newhall, CA; his brother, Fred O. Jensen of Chatham, MA; and three grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the scholarship fund Mr. Jensen and Jack Sheinkman established for students at Cornell University's ILR school. Donations should be made to: Cornell ILR --Groat Scholarship, c/o Christopher Crooker, Cornell University ILR School, Ives Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853.

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