Obituary

Lawrence K. Williams, professor emeritus of organizational behavior at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, died Feb. 3 at Cayuga Medical Center. He was 74.

Williams joined the ILR School faculty as an assistant professor in 1961 and became a full professor in 1969. He was named an emeritus professor in 1999.

He made important contributions through his research on change processes in organizations. His early work was on the effects of technological change on work group relations. Later, he collaborated with ILR colleague William Foote Whyte in studying cross-cultural influences in change processes. They co-authored a book, Toward an integrated theory of development: economic and noneconomic variables in rural development (ILR, 1968), that, in paperback, was used as a training manual in the Peace Corps.

Williams was director of graduate studies of the ILR School for 25 years, in 1969-75 and in 1982-97. He served on the committees of over 250 graduate students, chaired the committees of more than 70 students and, as of last spring, had attended 43 consecutive ILR graduation ceremonies.

He chaired the school's Department of Organizational Behavior for a period and also was one of the founders and directors of GOALS, a foundation to support underrepresented minority graduate students in human resources and industrial relations. He was a Fulbright scholar in Peru in 1967-72.

Williams graduated cum laude from Tufts University with a B.S. in psychology in 1952. He received his master's degree in 1954 from the University of Illinois. In 1960, he earned a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Michigan. He served in the U.S. Army in 1954-56 and worked as a research psychologist before entering academia.

In Ithaca, he served on the board of directors of Ithaco Inc. and was past commodore of the Ithaca Yacht Club. An avid gardener who knew plants by their Latin names, he became the unofficial cultivator of the ILR School gardens.

Predeceased by his wife, Jean Starliper Williams, and his son, Jeffrey Freeman Williams, he is survived by his partner, Jeanne Mueller, professor emerita of policy analysis and management at Cornell, and by numerous family members.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Heifer International at http://www.heifer.org, the Sierra Club at http://www.sierraclub.org or the charity of one's choice. A memorial service on campus will be announced at a later date.