Marick F. Masters, nationally recognized labor expert, has been appointed Director of the Douglas A. Fraser Center for Workplace Issues and Labor@Wayne. The appointment will be effective on Jan. 5, 2009.

Marick F. Masters

He was also appointed Professor in WSU's Department of Business in the School of Business Administration, and Adjunct Professor, Department of Political Science, in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Masters will oversee several areas in Labor@Wayne, which is a newly established administrative unit reporting to the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Labor@Wayne includes the Douglas A. Fraser Center for Workplace Issues, the Labor Studies Center, an undergraduate bachelor's degree in labor studies, and a master's degree in industrial relations.

The mission of Labor@Wayne is to marshal and coordinate the resources of the university in order to strengthen the capacity of unions to represent the needs and interests of workers and their communities in an increasingly complex and challenging global environment. The Fraser Center for Workplace Issues is an endowed center conducting research on labor and workplace issues.

Masters will direct efforts at stimulating and conducting research on labor and workplace issues and policies; disseminating the results of research and policy analysis to researchers, unions and policy makers; oversee the bachelor's and master's degree programs within Labor@Wayne; provide consulting and technical assistance; establish and institutionalize exchanges and collaboration among unions, researchers and labor centers on a global basis; and, provide comprehensive and coordinated educational programs for union members, activists and leaders.

Masters is currently a Professor of Business Administration and Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh where he also is the Executive Director of the Center on Conflict Resolution and Negotiation. He joined the University of Pittsburgh in 1986.

He received his Ph.D. from the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations at the University of Illinois and was on the faculty of the Department of Management at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.

His research and teaching focuses on conflict management and negotiations and the role of interest groups in politics. He is the author of more than 100 articles in a variety of journals, and served on editorial boards for various scholarly publications.

Masters is completing two books, one on "The Negotiating Executive" and the other on "Union Power: The Role of Organized Labor in 21st Century American Politics." He is active in a variety of organizations and has spoken to numerous private and public sector organizations and print and electronic media.

He is a senior partner in a management consulting firm AIM (Albright, Irr and Masters), with offices in New London, Conn. and Pittsburgh, Penn. AIM Consulting Associates has consulted with more than 50 organizations, including many Fortune-500 companies and major government agencies.