Obituary

John Philip Windmuller, the Martin P. Catherwood Professor Emeritus of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR), died Dec. 2 at Kendal at Ithaca following a long illness.

Windmuller was considered by peers to be the world's leading expert on international and comparative labor relations and is listed in Who's Who in America.

"John was a true scholar, with an encyclopedic knowledge. He knew more about international labor organizations and federations than anyone I ever met," said David Lipsky, professor and former dean of the ILR School. "He also was a man of integrity and decency."

Throughout his academic career, Windmuller was actively engaged in research. He took a special interest in the operation of labor organizations, employers associations and collective bargaining systems. He wrote and edited numerous books, among them Collective Bargaining in Industrial Market Economies: A Reappraisal (International Labor Office, Geneva, Switzerland, 1987), and held senior staff positions at the International Labor Organization. He published widely in scholarly journals and served on the editorial boards of the Cornell University Press and several journals. He was awarded a silver medal from the government of the Netherlands in 1970 for his book Labor Relations in the Netherlands.

Born in Dortmund, Germany, in 1923, he left the country on a children's transport to the Netherlands in December 1938 after having been held for four days by the Gestapo. Embarking at Cherbourg, he was a passenger on the ill-fated St. Louis in 1939. The German ship, whose passengers were escaping the Nazis, was turned away by Cuba and the United States and forced to return to Europe. Windmuller eventually entered the United States in 1942, served in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1946 and was active in postwar relief work for children in Europe.

He earned a B.A. from the University of Illinois in 1948 and a Ph.D. in industrial and labor relations from Cornell in 1951, the same year he was appointed to the ILR School faculty. He contributed to the development of international programs and activities in the ILR School and served as director of international activities from 1961 to 1964. He was associate dean from 1975 to 1977. In 1983 he became the first holder of the Catherwood chair. Named professor emeritus in 1987, he continued to teach for a few years after retirement.

Windmuller is survived by Ruth, his wife of 56 years; a daughter, Betsey Roberts, of Los Angeles; a son, Thomas, of Geneva, Switzerland; and a grandson, Jonathan, also of Geneva. A memorial service at Kendal will take place at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the National Parkinson Foundation, 1501 NW 9th Ave., Bob Hope Road, Miami, FL 33136, or the John P. and Ruth H. Windmuller Endowment Fund, Catherwood Library.