William M. Leiserson Decisions on Microfilm

William M. Leiserson was born in Estonia in 1883, and migrated to New York with his family at the age of seven.

"At the age of twenty-one he enrolled at the University of Wisconsin, where he received a degree in economics in 1908. While doing graduate work at Columbia University he served on the staff of the New York Commission on Employer's Liability and Unemployment. His Ph.D. thesis (1911) became the basis for the New York Employment Service System.



Returning to Wisconsin as deputy industrial commissioner, he established Wisconsin's public employment bureau and gained a reputation for his ability to adjust industrial disputes. A chronology of his major positions after he left Wisconsin serves as a guide to his half-century of contributions:

1914-1915 Assistant director of research, U.S. Commission on Industrial Relations

1915-1918 Professor of political science, Toledo University

1918-1919 Chief, Division of Labor Administration, U.S. Department of Labor

1919-1926 Impartial chairman and arbitrator, men's clothing industry in Rochester, New York, Baltimore, Chicago; faculty, Toledo University

1926-1933 Professor of economics, Antioch College; advisory council, Ohio State Employment Service; chairman, Ohio Unemployment Commission, 1931-1932

1933 Executive secretary, National Labor Board (NLB) under N.R.A.

1934 Chairman Petroleum Labor Policy Board; member Technical Board for Economic Security

1934-1939 Chairman, National Mediation Board (NMB); member National Railway Mediation Board and Railroad Retirement Board

1939-1943 Member, National Labor Relations Board; faculty, American University

1943-1944 Chairman, National Mediation Board; chairman, National Railway Labor Panel

1944-1947 Professor of economics, Johns Hopkins University, and director of study on the government of American labor organizations

1947-1957 Consultant and arbitrator; member President's Commission on Migratory Labor; president, Industrial Relations Research Association.

Mr. Leiserson died in Washington, D.C. in 1957." [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid- idx?c=wiarchives;view=reslist;subview=standard;didno=uw-whs-us0000bb;focusrgn=bioghist;cc=wiarchives;byte=356201277]