Human Resources Executive Education: A Brief History

In 1956, the Labor and Industrial Relations Center at Michigan State University was created with three units:

  1. The research division to study and publish findings on the important labor and industrial relations issues of the day,
  2. The Labor Program Service to provide labor education to union leaders and members, and
  3. The Personnel Management Program Service to provide HR and LR education to employers.

Ten years later, the Center became the School of Labor and Industrial Relations offering Masters and Doctorate degrees in human resources and labor relations.

In 1999 the Personnel Management Program Service name was changed to the Human Resources Education and Training Center. Shortly thereafter, the workers' compensation programs began to be offered under the Workers' Compensation Center sub-unit.

In 2009, to more accurately reflect the broad and career-spanning programs offered, the Workers' Compensation Center and the Human Resources Education and Training Center were reintegrated under the name Human Resources Executive Education.

Throughout its rich history and through its growth and name changes the School has provided human resources, labor relations and workers' compensation programs in every American state and the District of Columbia. The thousands of professionals benefiting from these programs have come from as far as Equatorial Guinea and as near as the MSU campus and from fields as varied as:

  • Public and private education
  • Manufacturing
  • Retail
  • Government
  • Organized Labor
  • Insurance and third party administrators
  • Healthcare
  • Law

Participants have included:

  • HR, LR and WC professionals at all levels
  • Case Managers
  • Rehabilitation Counselors
  • Lawyers
  • Physicians
  • Organizational Presidents
  • Business Owners
  • Contract Negotiators
  • Plant Managers
  • School Superintendents