Two ILR School graduates will receive the school's highest honors on March 31 at the annual Groat and Alpern Awards celebration in New York City. Barry A. Hartstein '73 will receive the Groat Award and John J. Scelfo '79, MBA '80, will receive the Alpern Award.

The Groat Award is given annually to an ILR School graduate who has demonstrated exceptional professional accomplishment in the field of industrial and labor relations. It is named in honor of Judge William B. Groat (1899-1986), who played a key role in ILR's founding.

The Alpern Award, named in honor of business and financial consultant Jerome Alpern '49, MBA '50, is given periodically to an ILR School graduate whose career accomplishments have been primarily outside the field of industrial and labor relations, or to a friend of the school.

Hartstein, a shareholder in the firm Littler Mendelson, P.C., has earned a national reputation for his work, which includes more than 30 years of counseling and litigation in representing employers around the country in a broad range of employment law matters. In 2010 he was named one of the "Top 100 Most Powerful Employment Attorneys" in Human Resource Executive and Lawdragon.

Hartstein has held leadership roles in the American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law and as co-chair of its Equal Employment Opportunity Committee. He has an ongoing role as a liaison between the Chicago bar and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Hartstein serves on the ILR Advisory Council, the ILR Alumni Association Executive Committee and the Scheinman Institute for Conflict Resolution Board of Directors. A Cornell University Council member, he is former president of the school's alumni association.

Scelfo is a senior vice president of finance and corporate development for Hess Corp. with responsibility for the company's treasury, strategy and exploration and production commercial activities. Before joining Hess, Scelfo was executive vice president and CFO for Sirius Satellite Radio and was vice president and CFO for Dell Computer Asia.

Mary Catt is the ILR School's staff writer.