Edward J. Lawler, professor of organizational behavior in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, has been nominated to serve a five-and-a- half-year term as dean of the school, beginning Jan. 1, 1997.

The appointment, which will be forwarded to the Executive Committee of the university Board of Trustees for approval, was announced by Cornell President Hunter Rawlings and Provost Don M. Randel.

Lawler succeeds David B. Lipsky, who is returning to the faculty after serving as dean since 1988.

"I am delighted with the nomination of Ed Lawler," Rawlings said. "I've known Professor Lawler for many years, and I have the highest regard for his scholarship and his ability to work effectively with both his academic colleagues and the broader community. The care with which he considers major issues will undoubtedly be a key ingredient of his leadership of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations." "Ed Lawler will bring true intellectual leadership to the School of Industrial and Labor Relations," Randel said. "He is a very distinguished member of the faculty. He has been at the school long enough to understand and value its traditions but is enough of a newcomer to bring fresh perspectives to bear. The school and the university are very fortunate to have found in him someone with both the right talents and the willingness to serve as dean." Lawler will be on leave for the first four months of his deanship so that he may fulfill an earlier commitment as a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study of the Behavioral Sciences in Palo Alto, Calif.

"The ILR School is a very special place, in fact 'one of a kind,' and I am quite pleased and excited about the prospect of serving in this capacity," Lawler said.

As dean, Lawler will oversee the school's move into a new home on campus -- a $25 million, 100,000-square-foot complex -- in the fall of 1997. The ILR School, one of the nation's premier institutions for the study of labor and workplace issues, has 49 faculty members and an undergraduate enrollment of about 720. The school's five extension offices -- Albany, Buffalo, New York City, Old Westbury and Rochester -- provide outreach services, sponsor conferences and offer classes.

Lawler has served as a professor of organizational behavior in the ILR School since 1994, although his association with the school began in 1978 when he was a visiting professor. He was a visiting associate professor at ILR in 1981 and served as a visiting fellow at the school in 1990.

Before joining Cornell, Lawler was a member of the faculty at the University of Iowa for 22 years, where he served as chairman of the Department of Sociology and as the Duane C. Spriesterbach Professor. His service to the university included tenure as chair of the University Self-Study Committee, which conducted a decennial evaluation of the university (1986-87), chair of the University Strategic Planning Committee (1989) and president of the University of Iowa Faculty Senate (1992-93).

Lawler has authored and edited 15 books, including two he wrote with Samuel B. Bacharach, professor of organizational behavior at the ILR School: Power and Politics in Organizations (Jossey-Bass, 1980) and Bargaining: Power, Tactics and Outcomes, (Jossey-Bass, 1981). He has served as editor or co-editor of the 10-volume series Advances in Group Processes (JAI Press), which publishes theoretical and empirical work on small group relationships, and he has written more than 30 articles for professional journals. In addition, he has served as editor of Social Psychology Quarterly since 1992

Lawler is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Sociological Association and the Academy of Management.

Originally from St. Louis, Lawler grew up in California. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in sociology from California State University, Long Beach, in 1966 and 1968, respectively, and a doctorate in sociology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1972.