Thomas Anton Kochan

Thomas A. Kochan
Thomas A. Kochan
Thomas A. Kochan
Born (1947-09-28) September 28, 1947 (age 76)
Education
  • B.B.A., University of Wisconsin, 1969
  • M.S., Industrial Relations, University of Wisconsin, 1971
  • Ph.D., Industrial Relations, University of Wisconsin, 1973

Thomas A. Kochan (born September 28, 1947) is a professor of industrial relations, work and employment. He is the George Maverick Bunker Professor of Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he has been a faculty member since 1980.[1]

He is author of the books Restoring the American Dream: A Working Families' Agenda for America[2] and Shaping the Future of Work.[3]

In 2010, Kochan led the formation of the Employment Policy Research Network (EPRN),[4] an online think tank on the subject of employment, a project of the Labor and Employment Relations Association, supported by the Rockefeller and Russell Sage foundations.[5] The EPRN web site launched in January 2011 with 100 researchers from 35 universities, including MIT, Harvard, California-Berkeley, Columbia, Cornell, Illinois, Michigan State, Pennsylvania State University and UCLA.[6]

He served as chair of the MIT faculty from 2009 to 2011.[5][7] He came to MIT in 1980 as a professor of industrial relations.[8] From 1988 to 1991 he served as head of the behavioral and policy sciences area in the Sloan School.[8]

He has served as a third-party mediator, fact finder, and arbitrator and as a consultant to a variety of government and private sector organizations and labor-management groups.[8]

He was a consultant for one year to the Secretary of Labor in the Department of Labor's Office of Policy Evaluation and Research.[9]

Kochan focuses on the need to update America's work and employment policies, institutions, and practices to catch up with a changing workforce and economy. Through empirical research, he demonstrates that fundamental changes in the quality of work and employment relations are needed to address America's critical problems in industries ranging from healthcare to airlines to manufacturing.[10][11]

  1. ^ MIT Faculty Entry. Accessed 20 July 2010 Archived 15 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Kochan, T.A. (September 2005). Restoring the American Dream: A Working Families' Agenda for America. MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-11292-5. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
  3. ^ "Shaping the Future of Work: What Future Worker, Business, Government, and Education Leaders Need To Do For All To Prosper". Business Expert Press.
  4. ^ "Labor and Employment Relations Association – Home".
  5. ^ a b "Shaping the Future of Work – Press Releases – MIT Sloan School of Management".
  6. ^ "Labor and Employment Relations Association – About".
  7. ^ "MIT History".
  8. ^ a b c "Prof. Thomas Kochan".
  9. ^ "The Aspen Institute: Ideas Worth Teaching".
  10. ^ "Thomas Kochan – Faculty – MIT Sloan School of Management".
  11. ^ Witzel, Morgen (2005-05-15). Encyclopedia of History of American Management. A&C Black. pp. 308–310. ISBN 9781843711315.