McPherson, William H.

YEARS IN THE DEPARTMENT:

1946-1971

RESEARCH INTEREST:

Labor Economics

BIOSKETCH:

William Heston McPherson was born October 18, 1902 in Columbus, Ohio. He held a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, a master’s degree from Ohio State University, and a PhD from the University of Chicago. McPherson began his teaching career at Dartmouth College in 1929 before moving to Western Reserve University a year later. In 1937, he began teaching at Oberlin College.

The outbreak of World War II caused McPherson, like many economists of the day, to begin working with the federal government. He served on the Committee on Social Security of the Social Science Research Council from 1940 to 1942, and then became the chief economist at the War Manpower Commission. From 1943 to 1945, he served as the chairman of the National War Labor Board Shipbuilding Commission as well.

When the war ended, McPherson returned to teaching by joining the University of Illinois in 1946. He was handpicked by the Department of Economics to help create the University’s Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations; Professor McPherson was the first faculty member hired for the Institute.

McPherson remained in the Institute until his retirement in 1971 when he was named a Professor Emeritus. Despite his retirement, he remained involved with the Institute for over a decade, mostly concentrating on alumni issues. The Institute honored him with the group’s first Special Recognition Award in 1982.

In his retirement, McPherson split his time between Champaign and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he and his wife owned a small cabin. Professor McPherson died at the age of 91 on December 10, 1993.

PHD:

University of Chicago, 1935

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

McPherson, William H. Public Employee Relations in West Germany. Ann Arbor: Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, University of Michigan-Wayne State University, 1971. Print.
McPherson, William H. Labor Relations in the Automobile Industry. Washington, D.C: The Brookings Institution, 1940. Print.
McPherson, William H, and Frederic Meyers. The French Labor Courts: Judgment by Peers. Urbana: Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, University of Illinois, 1966. Print.
McPherson, William H. Works Councils Under German Republic. Chicago, 1939. Print.
Aaron, Benjamin, William E. Chalmers, Jack G. Day, Milton Derber, Harry M. Douty, John T. Dunlop, Clark Kerr, Emmett B. McNutt, William H. McPherson, and John B. Parrish. Problems and Policies of Dispute Settlement and Wage Stabilization During World War II. [U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Bulletin No. 1009.]. Washington, DC: Verlag nicht ermittelbar, 1951. Print.

VITA: