Dr. Hurd is Professor and Director of Labor Studies at Cornell University. A leading specialist on trade union administration and strategy, he has been quoted widely in the national print and broadcast media on various labor issues. He also has offered testimony before Congressional Committees and Presidential Commissions. Hurd is co-editor of Organizing to Win (Cornell University ILR Press, 1998) and Restoring the Promise of American Labor Law (ILR Press, 1994). He has published dozens of papers in books and professional journals, among them "Professional Employees and Union Democracy," "Is Organizing Enough? Race, Gender and Union Culture," "Contesting the Dinosaur Image: the Labor Movement's Search for a Future," and "Beyond the Organizing Model."

Professor Hurd works closely with labor organizations developing training programs and offering technical assistance on strategic issues including trade union management, organizational change, internal and external organizing, strategic planning, and leadership development. His clients include AFL-CIO Office of the President, AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees, AFT Shanker Institute, New York State United Teachers, AFSCME-CSEA, UNITE, and the American Guild of Musical Artists. An economist by training, Professor Hurd has served as an Economic Policy Fellow at the Brookings Institution. He earned his Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University.