Hallock steps down as LERC director

EUGENE - Margaret Hallock is stepping down as director of the Labor Education and Research Center (LERC) at the University of Oregon to assume new duties as director of the new Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics.

Hallock, a former economist with the Oregon Public Employees Union Local 503, has been the director of LERC for nearly 13 years.

Marcus Widenor, an associate professor at LERC, has been named acting director until a new one is found. A national search for a new director will be announced later this month.

A search committee has been appointed by university officials, chaired by Associate Dean Bob O'Brien from the College of Arts and Sciences.

"Margaret Hallock has been a distinguished director of LERC and has set high quality standards of research and service in establishing LERC as a nationally-recognized leader in labor research and educational programs," said Lorraine G. Davis, vice provost for academic affairs at the U of O. "She has done an outstanding job and we have been exceptionally fortunate to have her leadership in LERC for these past years. Accordingly, the search to find a new director is an extremely important one."

Among those named to the seven-person search committee are Tim Nesbitt, president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, LERC associate professors Steven Hecker and Barbara Byrd, and UofO student Chad Sullivan, the son of McMinnville Steelworker Mike Sullivan.

LERC was established in 1977 by the Oregon Legislature, on the recommendation of the Oregon State System of Higher Education. Its mission is to provide education programs and undertake research on the changing world of work and labor relations.

LERC offers an extensive range of non-credit programs to labor unions. In addition to its offices on the university campus, there is an office in the UO Portland Center downtown.

LERC is advised by a Labor Advisory Board consisting of the heads of key unions and labor organizations in Oregon.

The new Wayne Morse Center will be housed at the UO law school and be directed by Hallock on a half-time basis.

The Wayne Morse Chair of Law and Politics has operated at the university since the early 1980s. Its expansion is due to a recent multi-million-dollar private endowment.

The mission of the center will be to "stimulate interdisciplinary research and discussion on key topics in law and politics."

Home | About