Fiber2Fashion (India), April 20, 2007, Friday

Fiber2Fashion (India) http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/daily-textile-industries-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=34068 USA : Cornell ILR launches Globalization and the Workplace program April 20, 2007

Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) has launched a new program, Globalization and the Workplace, which will have a substantial presence both in New York City and Ithaca. "Other universities have globalization centers, but as far as I know, no other group has specifically focused on the world of work as we're about to do," says Gary Fields, professor of labor economics and director of the new program, which will be administered by the ILR International Programs Committee. The program is designed to address how the forces of globalization could be harnessed to improve earning opportunities for working people throughout the world and to better enable low-wage workers to work their way out of poverty. The new program also will focus on the important workplace issues surrounding economic development in emerging economies and the repercussions for workers in developed countries. In its three-year start-up phase, it will support research by faculty and students, provide a forum for policy debates, develop and offer at least one new undergraduate course and help expand study-abroad opportunities. Start-up funding for the program is provided by David M. Cohen, ILR '73, former assistant vice president of the Columbia University Medical Center, and his wife, Abby Joseph Cohen, A&S '73, a managing director of Goldman Sachs. "The world will continue to get smaller as transportation and communications improve, and industrialdevelopment and the need for natural resources grow along with consumer demand," said David Cohen. "It is critical that the ILR School establish itself as the leading academic center studying the impact -- for better or for worse -- of the integration of the global economy so that we can avoid the mistakes of the past. "People who live and work in China, Asia, Africa and Latin America will see major changes in their lives as they increasingly become part of the world economy. Similarly, we in the United States feel the impact of manufacturing and service jobs moving offshore on our own economy," Cohen added. "No institution is better positioned to bring the tools of social science to this endeavor than the ILR School." Abby Cohen said: "The rapid economic development now occurring elsewhere [in the world] raises many questions. These involve not only the challenges to our own workforce and employers, but also the desirability of creating safe workplaces and opportunities to lift people in other regions out of poverty and into productive work lives." The Cohens have a long history of involvement with Cornell. Abby Cohen is a presidential councilor and trustee emerita of the university, as well as a member of the board of overseers of the Weill Cornell Medical College. David Cohen is a member of the ILR dean's advisory council and the University Council and is chair emeritus of Cornell Hillel. In recognition of their support, the Cohens have been honored as Foremost Benefactors of Cornell University. Cornell University