The Intellectual and Institutional Development of BUIRA: A 60 Years Retrospective
The foundation of BUIRA’s predecessor in 1950 signified an important turn in the academic life of Great Britain, as it set the proper bases for the development of the field of Industrial Relations in the country.
Although the study of industrial relations- related matters occupied the British literature since the 19th century, it was the establishment of BUIRA that gave the impetus for the further institutionalisation of the field.
However, BUIRA was not always perceived, either by its members or by the rest of the society, as a professional association actively representing a community of “Industrial Relations” scholars; the passage of BUIRA from an informal annual meeting, or “gentlemen’s club”, to a professional association occurred gradually.
In parallel to the evolution of BUIRA’s identity, its role also changed, from an association interested primarily in the promotion of its members’ interests to an association actively interfering in the public debate concerning the future of the field of Industrial Relations in Britain.
Operating, nowadays, in a rather hostile environment for the study of industrial relations, BUIRA seems to resist the degenerating trends in British academia, and to continue to be valued as an important institution for British Industrial Relations.
Source:
Voskeritsian, H. (2010) The Intellectual and Institutional Development of BUIRA: a 60 Years Retrospective. BUIRA
The article is available in full here.
BUIRA Presidents and Officers 1950-2010
| Year | President | Officers | Host Institution |
| 1950-1953 | J.H. Richardson | J.D.M. Bell; K.J.W. Alexander | University of Leeds |
| 1953-1956 | H.S. Kirkaldy | J.D.M. Bell; D.J. Robertson; H.R. Kahn | University of Cambridge |
| 1956-1959 | E.H. Phelps-Brown | D.J. Robertson; H.R. Kahn; N.S. Ross | London School of Economics |
| 1959-1962 | A.D. Flanders | N.S. Ross; J.P. Davison | University of Oxford |
| 1962-1965 | D.J. Robertson | J.P. Davison; G.L. Reid | University of Glasgow |
| 1965-1968 | B.C. Roberts | R.F. Banks; R.J. Loveridge | London School of Economics |
| 1968-1971 | H.A. Turner | L.J. Handy | University of Cambridge |
| 1971-1974 | H.A. Clegg | G.S. Bain | University of Warwick |
| 1974-1977 | W.E.J. McCarthy | J.W. Durcan | University of Oxford |
| 1977-1980 | L.C. Hunter | A.W.J. Thomson | University of Glasgow |
| 1980-1983 | Dorothy Wedderburn | Paul Willman | Imperial College, London |
| 1983-1986 | J.F.B. Goodman | J.R.K. Berridge | University of Manchester |
| 1986-1989 | William Brown | Colin Gill | University of Cambridge |
| 1989-1992 | John Gennard | C.J. Lockyer | University of Strathclyde |
| 1992-1995 | Christine Edwards | Edmund Heery | Kingston University |
| 1995-1998 | John Purcell | Nicholas Kinnie | University of Oxford |
| 1998-2001 | Linda Dickens | Stephen Bach; Caroline Lloyd | University of Warwick |
| 2001-2004 | Roger Seifert | Carole Thornley; Mike Ironside; Paul Smith; Steve French | Keele University |
| 2004-2007 | Stephanie Tailby | Hazel Conley; Andy Danford; Martin Upchurch | University of the West of England |
| 2007-2010 | Rosemary Lucas | Paul Brook; Hamish Mathieson; Carol Atkinson | Manchester Metropolitan University |
| 2010-2013 | Paul Stewart | Kirsty Newsome; Ian Cunningham; Kay Gilbert | University of Strathclyde |
| 2013-2016 | Mark Stuart | Jane Holgate; Christopher Forde; Ian Greenwood; Robert MacKenzie | University of Leeds |
| 2016-2019 | Jo McBride | Ana Lopes; Stewart Johnstone; Michael Brookes; Stephen Procter | Newcastle University |
| 2019-2022 | Tony Dobbins | Andy Hodder; Alex Wood; Genevieve Coderre-LaPalme; David Bailey; Paul Lewis | University of Birmingham |
| 2022-2023 | Peter Turnbull | Tonia Novitz; Alex Wood; Jennifer Johns; Huw Thomas; Giorgos Gouzoulis; Harry Pitts; Manoj Dias-Abey; Kavya Bharadkar | University of Bristol |