FACULTY SPEAK OUT AGAINST UNIONIZATION

(Updated, June 10)

Over 300 faculty have joined with us in registering their concerns about the consequences of a faculty union for the excellence of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. 

The list comprises 334 faculty of all ranks and includes 11 Swanlund chairs and over 125 other named professors. (75 signatories, including a number of Assistant Professors, have asked not to release their names publicly.)

All signatories share the concern that faculty unionization will harm our campus. 

If you share this concern, please add your name to ours at:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PreserveExcellence

[This site allows you to register your vote of support without making your name public, if you wish.]

Jeff Brown
Nick Burbules
Joyce Tolliver

Joint Statement of Concern About Faculty Unionization

We, the undersigned members of the faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, find no evidence that academic excellence on our campus would be advanced by ceding control of many of our most important decision-making processes to local representatives of a national labor union.

On the contrary, our nationally-recognized campus shared governance system has a strong record of shaping campus and university policy for the protection of faculty interests and the success of our campus missions. There is no evidence that faculty unions on other campuses have enhanced faculty research or teaching profiles. In fact, none of the universities that UIUC has identified as peer institutions (and competitors for top faculty) has a faculty union.

Finally, according to State law, a vote to unionize our faculty would be a vote to require every faculty member in the campus bargaining unit to be represented by the union; faculty would also be required to pay union or “fair share” dues whether they support unionization or not. We do not believe that faculty members should be forced to support an organization financially that they have not personally agreed to join.

We are proud to be faculty members of a world-class research and teaching institution, which has achieved and maintained this status without a faculty union.

Signed:

A. Rashad Abdel-khalik, V. K. Zimmerman Professor of International Accounting, Accountancy

Peter Abbamonte, Professor, Physics

Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, Professor, University Scholar, Curriculum and Instruction

Daniel Abrams, Willett Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Ilana Redstone Akresh, Associate Professor, Sociology

Imad L. Al-Qadi, Founder Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Andrew Alleyne, Ralph M. and Catherine V. Fisher Professor of Mechanical Science and Engineering

Heitor Almeida,  Stanley C. and Joan J. Golder Distinguished Chair in Finance

Scott Althaus, Professor of Political Science and Professor of Communication

Gopesh Anand, Associate Professor, Business Administration

James Anderson, Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professor, Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership

Amy W. Ando, Professor, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics 

Mary Arends-Kuenning, Associate Professor, Agricultural and Consumer Economics 
Ilana Arkesh, Associate Professor, Sociology
Richard Arkesh, Associate Professor, Economics

Brian Bailey, Associate Professor, Computer Science

Ryan Bailey, Associate Professor, Chemistry

Tamer Basar, Swanlund Endowed Chair and Center for Advanced Study Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Rashid Bashir, Abel Bliss Professor, Bioengineering

Jay D Bass, Ralph E Grim Professor of Geology

Nina Baym, Emeritus Professor of English, Swanlund Chair and Center for Advanced Study

Douglas H. Beck, Professor of Physics

Paul Beck, Irwin J. Jecha Professor of Accountancy

May Berenbaum, Swanlund Professor, Department of Entomology

Jennifer T. Bernhard, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Dan Bernhardt, IBE Distinguished Professor of Economics and Finance

Richard Blahut, Henryk Magnuski Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Daniel Bodony, Blue Waters Associate Professor, Aerospace Engineering

Marni Boppart, Assistant Professor, Kinesiology and Community Health

Stephen Boppart, Abel Bliss Professor of Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering 

Carl Bradley, Associate Professor, Crop Sciences

Paul Braun, Ivan Racheff Professor of Materials Science and Engineering

Jeffrey R. Brown, William G. Karnes Professor of Finance

Ralph Brubaker, Professor, Law

Nicholas C. Burbules, Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professor, Education Policy, Organization and Leadership

Bill Buttlar, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Roy Campbell, Sohaib and Sara Abbasi Professor of Computer Science 

Teresa Cardador, Assistant Professor, School of Labor and Employment Relations

John P. Caughlin, Professor of Communication, Conrad Humanities Professorial Scholar

Louis Kuochi Chan, Hoeft Professor of Finance

Jie Chen, Professor, Cell and Developmental Biology

Xiaogang Chen, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Wendy K. Tam Cho, Professor of Political Science, NCSA Senior Research Scientist

Kent D. Choquette, Abel Bliss Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Soon-Jo Chung, Assistant Professor, Aerospace Engineering

Susan I. Cohen, Associate Professor Emerita, Business Administration

James J Coleman, Professor Emeritus, Electrical and Computer Engineering

John D. Colombo, Albert E. Jenner Jr. Professor of Law

Peter F. Colwell, Emeritus Professor, Finance

Kathleen F. Conlin, Barnard Hewitt Professor of Theatre/Director in Residence, Theatre

S. Lance Cooper, Professor of Physics

John Cronan, Alumni Professor of Microbiology

Jon S. Davis, R.C. Evans Endowed Chair in Business, Accountancy

Evan DeLucia, Arends Professor of Integrative Biology, Plant Biology

Scott E. Denmark, R. C. Fuson Professor of Chemistry 

Lizanne DeStefano, Fox Family Professor, Educational Psychology

Paul F. Diehl, Henning Larsen Professor of Political Science 

Brian Diers, Professor, Crop Sciences

Minh Do, Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Wilfred van der Donk, Richard E. Heckert Professor of Chemistry

Sharon M. Donovan, Professor and Melissa M. Noel Endowed Chair, Food Science & Human Nutrition
James Drackley, Professor, Animal Sciences 

Geir E. Dullerud, College of Engineering Willett Faculty Scholar and Professor, Mechanical Science and Engineering

Stacy Dymond, Associate Professor, Special Education

James Eckstein, Professor, Physics

J. Gary Eden, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Wynter Brooke Elliott, Associate Professor of Accountancy and Roedgers Fellow in Accountancy and Professor Ken Perry Faculty Fellow, Accountancy

Margareth Etienne, Professor of Law and Nancy Snowden Research Scholar

Monica Fabiani, Professor, Psychology and Beckman Institute

Larry Fahnestock, Associate Professor & CEE Excellence Faculty Fellow, Civil & Environmental Engineering

Kara Federmeier, Professor of Psychology, University Scholar

Liming Feng, Associate Professor, Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering

Barbara Fiese, Pampered Chef Endowed Chair Family Resiliency, Director Family Resiliency Center, Human and Community Development

David A. Forsyth, Professor, Computer Science

Susan A. Fowler, Professor, Special Education

Don Fullerton, Gutgsell Professor of Finance and IGPA
Brian Gaines, Professor, Political Science, IGPA 

Marcelo H. Garcia, Chester and Helen Siess Endowed Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

John G Georgiadis, R. W. Kritzer Professor of Mechanical Science and Engineering

Philippe Geubelle, Abel Bliss Professor of Aerospace Engineering

Matthew Gilbert, Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Martha Gillette, Alumni Professor of Cell & Developmental Biology, Molecular and Cell Biology
Rhanor Gillette, Professor, Molecular & Integrative Physiology 

Nick Glumac, Professor and Cannon Faculty Scholar, Mechanical Science & Engineering

Carroll E Goering, Professor Emeritus, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Nigel Goldenfeld, Swanlund Endowed Chair and Center for Advanced Study Professor in Physics

Rick Gorvett, State Farm Companies Foundation Scholar in Actuarial Science, Mathematics

Kim C. Graber, Professor of Kinesiology and Community Health

Steve Granick, Professor, Materials Science and Engineering

George Gross, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Professor, IGPA

Margaret Rosso Grossman,  Professor Emerita and Bock Chair in Agricultural Law Emerita, Agricultural and Consumer Economics

Michael Grossman, Professor Emeritus, Department of Animal Sciences

Craig Gundersen, Soybean Industry Endowed Professor of Agricultural Strategy, Agricultural and Consumer Economics

Julie Jordan Gunn, Associate Professor of Music, Director of Lyric Theatre Studies, Music

Nathan Gunn, Professor of Music, Chair of the Opera Division

C. K. Gunsalus, Director, National Center for Professional and Research Ethics and Professor Emerita, College of Business

Bruce Hajek, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Sharon Hammes-Schiffer, Swanlund Professor of Chemistry

Jiawei Han, Abel Bliss Professor of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Lawrence Hanks, Professor, Entomology   
Alan Hansen, Professor, Agricultural and Biological Engineering   

Paul J. Hergenrother, Kenneth L. Rinehart Jr. Endowed Chair in Natural Products Chemistry

Karl Hess, Swanlund Chair emeritus, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Harry H. Hilton, Professor Emeritus of Aerospace Engineering

So Hirata, Alumni Research Scholar Professor and Blue Waters Professor of Chemistry

Stafford Hood, Sheila M. Miller Professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction

José I. Hualde, Professor, Spanish and Linguistics

Heidi M. Hurd, David C. Baum Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy

Christine Hurt, Professor of Law, Co-Director of Program in Business Law and Public Policy 

Seth Hutchinson, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Wen-mei Hwu, Professor and Sanders-AMD Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering

David Hyman, H. Ross and Helen Workman Chair in Law and Professor of Medicine

Scott Irwin, Laurence J. Norton Chair of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Consumer Economics

Sally Jackson, Professor of Communication

Anthony M. Jacobi, Richard W. Kritzer Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Science and Engineering

Scott Jacobs, Professor, Communication

Harley Johnson, Professor, Mechanical Science and Engineering

Timothy C. Johnson, Professor of Finance

Douglas Jones, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Janice Juraska, Professor, Psychology 

Charles Kahn, Bailey Memorial Chair Professor, Finance

Prasanta K. Kalita, Professor, Soil & Water Resources Engineering, University Distinguished Teacher Scholar,  

Shiv G. Kapoor, Grayce Wicall Gauthier Chair and Professor, Mechanical Science and Engineering

Sheldon Katz, Professor of Mathematics

John A. Katzenellenbogen, Emeritus Swanlund Professor of Chemistry

Paula Kaufman, Professor & Mortenson Center for International Library Programs Librarian, University Library

William P. King, College of Engineering Bliss Professor, Mechanical Science and Engineering

Roger Koenker, W.B McKinley Professor of Economics

Frederic Kolb, Cavanah Professor of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Crop Sciences

David M. Kranz, Phillip A. Sharp Professor of Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology

James H. Kuklinski, Matthew T. McClure Professor of Political Science

Praveen Kumar, Lovell Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Paul Kwiat, Bardeen Endowed Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics

John C. Lammers, Professor in the Department of Communication

David Lange, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Kurt Lash, Guy Raymond Jones Chair in Law

Robert M. Lawless, Professor of Law

Huseyin Leblebici, Merle H. and Virginia Downs Boren Professor of Business Administration

Deborah Leckband, Professor, Chemical Engineering and Chemistry

Andrew D. Leipold, Edwin M. Adams Professor of Law
Michael Leroy, Professor, Labor and Employment Relations

Stephen Levinson, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Zhi-Pei Liang, Franklin W. Woeltge Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Jon Liebman, Emeritus Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Stephen Long,  Gutgsell Endowed Professor of Plant Biology and Crop Sciences, Plant Biology

Juan Loor, Associate Professor, Animal Sciences

Michael C. Loui, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University Distinguished Teacher-Scholar

Zaida Luthey-Schulten, Lycan Professor of Chemistry

Jonathan J. Makela, Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Benito Marinas, Ivan Racheff Endowed Professor of Environmental Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Susan Martinis, Professor of Biochemistry, University Scholar, Molecular and Cell Biology

Nadya Mason, Associate Professor, Physics

Moshe Matalon,  College of Engineering Caterpillar Professor, Mechanical Science and Engineering

Edward McAuley, Shahid and Ann Carlson Khan Professor in Applied Health Sciences, Applied Health Sciences

Timothy G. McCarthy, Professor, Philosophy and Linguistics

Mariselle Meléndez, Professor of Spanish American Literatures & Cultures, Conrad Humanities Scholar

Steven C. Michael, Professor of Business Administration
Olgica Milenkovic, Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering 

Nolan Miller, Professor of Finance and Julian Simon Faculty Fellow, Finance

Ray Ming, Professor of Plant Biology, Director Center for Genomics and Biotechnology

Silvina Montrul, Professor and University Scholar, Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese and Department of Linguistics

Jeffrey S Moore, Murchison-Mallory Professor of Chemistry

Michael Moore, Charles R. Walgreen, Jr. Chair, Law

Robert Motl, Associate Professor, Kinesiology and Community Health

Catherine J. Murphy, Peter C. and Gretchen Miller Markunas Professor of Chemistry

Emerson Nafziger, Professor, Crop Sciences

Klara Nahrstedt, Ralph and Catherine Fisher Full Professor, Computer Science

Peter F. Nardulli, Professor of Political Science and Law, Director, Cline Center for Democracy

Phillip Newmark, Professor; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cell and Developmental Biology

David M. Nicol, Franklin W. Woeltge Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Ralph Nuzzo, G. L. Clark Professor of Chemistry

Michael Oelze, Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Eric Oldfield, Harriet A. Harlin Professor of Chemistry

Michaelene M. Ostrosky, Goldstick Family Scholar, Special Education

Cornelia C. Otnes, Investors in Business Education Professor and Professor of Advertising, Business Administration

Thomas Overbye, Fox Family Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

David Padua, Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Computer Science

Carole L. Palmer, Professor of Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Director, Center for Informatics Research in Science and Scholarship

Stephen Parente, Associate Professor, Economics

Gary Parker, W.H. Johnson Professor, Depts. of Geology and Civil & Environmental Engineering

Neil D. Pearson, Harry A. Brandt Professor of Financial Markets and Options, Finance

Mark E Peecher, Deloitte Professor of Accountancy

George G. Pennacchi, Investors in Business Education Professor of Finance

Matthias Grosse Perdekamp, Professor, Physics

Martin K. Perry, Professor of Economics

Heather Pesch, Assistant Professor, Accountancy

Steven J. Petruzzello, Associate Professor, Kinesiology & Community Health

Nicholas C. Petruzzi, Associate Professor of Business Administration and Seass Faculty Fellow

Kevin Pitts, Professor, Physics

Mattias Polborn, Professor, Economics

John E. Prussing, Professor Emeritus of Aerospace Engineering

Christopher Rao, Associate Professor and Robert W. Schaefer Professorial Scholar, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Thomas Rauchfuss, Larry Faulkner Professor of Chemistry

Chad Rienstra, Professor of Chemistry

Aric Rindfleisch, JM Jones Chair of Marketing, Business Administration

Gene E. Robinson, Swanlund Chair, Entomology

Angus Rockett, Professor, Materials Science and Engineering

Jeffery Roesler, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

John A. Rogers, Swanlund Chair, Materials Science and Engineering

Mark J. Rood, Ivan Racheff Professor of Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Rosa Milagros Santos, Professor, Special Education

Pete Sauer, Grainger Professor of Electrical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Alexander Scheeline, Professor of Chemistry Emeritus

Lawrence B. Schook, Gutgsell Professor, Animal Sciences

Kenneth S. Schweizer,  Professor of Materials Science, Chemistry & Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering,  

Mats Selen, Professor, Physics

Naresh Shanbhag, Jack Kilby Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Sharon Shavitt, Walter H. Stellner Professor of Marketing, Business Administration

Bruce J. Sherrick, Marjorie and Jerry Fruin Professor of Farmland Economics, ACE

Scott K. Silverman, Professor of Chemistry

Andrew C. Singer, Fox Family Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

James M. Slauch, Professor, and Director, Medical Scholars Program, Microbiology 

Stephen Sligar, Swanlund Endowed Chair, School of Molecular and Cellular Biology

Petros Sofronis, James W. Bayne Professor, Mechanical Science and Engineering

Jacob Sosnoff, Associate Professor, Kinesiology and Community Health

Nancy Sottos, Donald B. Willett Professor of Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering

Theodore Sougiannis, KPMG Distinguished Professor of Accounting

B.F. Spencer, Nathan M. and Anne M. Newmark Endowed Chair in Civil Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Joseph Squier, Petullo Professor of Design Studies & Culture, School of Art + Design

R. Srikant, Fredric G. and Elizabeth H. Nearing Endowed Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

D. Scott Stewart, Shao Lee Soo Professor of Mechanical Science and Engineering

Dusan Stipanovic, Associate Professor, ISE

David Strauser, Professor, Kinesiology and Community Health 

James Stubbins, Willett Professor, Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering 
Andrew Suarez, Associate Professor, Animal Biology 

Kenneth S. Suslick, Marvin T. Schmidt Professor of Chemistry

Jonathan V. Sweedler, James R. Eiszner Family Chair of Chemistry 

Charles Tabb, Mildred Van Voorhis Jones Chair in Law

Kelly A. Tappenden, Kraft Foods Human Nutrition Endowed Professor, Food Science & Human Nutrition

David Tewksbury, Professor, Department of Communication

Deborah Thurston, Gutsgell Professor of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering

Joyce Tolliver, Associate Professor of Spanish, Translation Studies, and Gender & Women's Studies

Daniel A. Tortorelli, George B. Grim Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Science and Engineering

Dallas R. Trinkle, Associate Professor, Materials Science and Engineering

Thomas S. Ulen, Swanlund Chair Emeritus and Professor Emeritus, Law

Alexander F. Vakakis, Grayce Wicall Gauthier Professor, Mechanical Science and Engineering

Albert Valocchi, Abel Bliss Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Dale J. Van Harlingen, Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Physics

Mara R. Wade, Professor, Germanic Languages and Literatures

John H. Weaver, Donald B. Willett Professor, Material Science and Engineering and Physics

Scott Weisbenner, Professor of Finance and James F. Towey Faculty Fellow, Finance

Matthew West, Associate Professor, Mechanical Science and Engineering

Matthew Wheeler, Professor, Animal Sciences, Bioengineering, Institute for Genomic Biology

Bryan White, Professor, Animal Sciences

Scott White, Professor, Aerospace Engineering

Scott Willenbrock, Professor, Physics

Steven Williams, Professor, Economics

Ken Wilund, Associate Professor, Kinesiology and Community Health

Jeffrey A. Woods, Professor, Kinesiology and Community Health

Colin Wraight, Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics & Plant Biology, Biochemistry

Don Wuebbles, Harry E. Preble Professor of Atmospheric Science

Yuanhui Zhang, Innoventor Professor in Engineering, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Huimin Zhao, Centennial Chair Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Craig Zilles, Associate Professor, Computer Science

Steven C. Zimmerman, Roger Adams Professor of Chemistry

Jian-Min Zuo, Professor, Materials Science and Engineering