Jean McKelvey, the first faculty member of Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations and the first woman to serve as president of the National Academy of Arbitrators, died Jan. 5 in Rochester, N.Y. She was 89.

In 1946, after teaching at Sarah Lawrence College for 13 years, McKelvey became the first faculty member of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) at Cornell, where she authored the first curriculum and taught a variety of courses in arbitration, labor law and labor practices. She was named professor emerita in 1976 but continued to teach and serve as coordinator of off-campus graduate credit courses for ILR Extension programs in Syracuse, Albany, Corning, Elmira and Rochester. In a 1994 tribute to McKelvey, the ILR School created its first endowed chair, the Jean McKelvey-Alice Grant Professor of Labor Management Relations.

McKelvey's influence as an educator can be seen in the achievements of her students, many of whom have gone on to accomplished careers as labor leaders, arbitrators and jurists, including U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Harry T. Edwards '62.

A year after joining the Cornell faculty, McKelvey became the first woman member of the National Academy of Arbitrators. In 1970 she became the first woman to be elected president of the academy. Noting the underrepresentation of women in the academy, McKelvey established in 1978 an arbitration training program for women.

In addition to her teaching duties, McKelvey was a much sought-after arbitrator, resolving disputes in a number of fields, especially the airline industry, where she was retained as an arbitrator for United Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and TWA.

She was, until her death, a member of the the Public Review Board of the United Auto Workers. Appointed to the board in 1960, McKelvey served as acting chair from 1973 to 1974.

McKelvey was named to the New York State Board of Mediation in 1955 by New York Gov. W.A. Harriman. During her 11-year tenure on the board, McKelvey helped resolve numerous disputes, including a 1961 walkout by butchers against wholesale meat distributors. The strike lasted but a few days before it was resolved.

In 1970 McKelvey was appointed by President Nixon to the Federal Services Impasses Panel, of which she was a member until 1990.

McKelvey authored numerous papers and books, including Cleared for Takeoff: Airline Labor Relations since Deregulation (ILR Press, 1988), Dock Labor Disputes in Great Britain: A Study in the Persistence of Unrest (ILR Press, 1953) and New Challenges to Arbitration (ILR Press, 1977).

Among her honors and awards is Arbitrator of the Year (1983) from the American Arbitration Association, as well as distinguished service awards from the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution (1989) and Society of Federal Labor Relations Professionals (1990).

Born in St. Louis, McKelvey attended high school in East Orange, N.J., where she was honored with a public housing project in her name. The Jean McKelvey-UAW Apartments recognized McKelvey's long history of service to the UAW Public Review Board.

McKelvey earned a bachelor's degree from Wellesley College in 1929 and a master's and Ph.D. from Radcliffe College in 1931 and 1933, respectively.

She is survived by her husband, Blake McKelvey, the city historian emeritus of Rochester.