The Willoughby Abner Award

The Willoughby Abner Award is given periodically by the Association for Conflict Resolution in memory of Willoughby (“Bill”) Abner, a federal mediator who, before his premature death in 1972, was involved in a wide variety of disputes as Director of the National Center for Dispute Settlement (NCDS) of the American Arbitration Association. In his work with NCDS, Abner helped develop the emerging dispute settlement field of ADR, as well as the early years of public sector employment disputes.

The Award was made possible by a $5,000 gift to the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution (SPIDR), one of ACR’s founding organizations, by the Public Employment Relations Research Institute (PERRI) when it ceased operating in 1982. Bill Abner had been instrumental in helping Hugh Jascourt create PERRI to conduct research on public sector labor relations because they both believed that dispute resolution practitioners could benefit from practical research focused on dispute settlement.

The Abner Award is intended to recognize individual and organizational work in public sector employment dispute settlement which involves research, writing or reflective practice, when combined with efforts to persuade other practitioners to apply the product of the research, writing, or practice. The award attempts to encourage the relationship between practice and research, and the nexus between improving dispute settlement performance and the analysis and study of past experience and practice.

Beginning in 1984, the Abner Award has been given sixteen times in recognition of efforts that have changed state law on police/fire impasse resolution; defended the constitutionality of interest-arbitration under State law; enhanced the effective work of public dispute settlement agencies; and promoted grievance mediation, labor-management cooperation and interest-based bargaining.

Past recipients: