Mary Jo Dudley

Mary Jo Dudley is the Director of the Cornell Farmworker Program and a faculty member in Cornell University’s Department of Development Sociology. As director of the Program her work focuses on improving the living and working conditions of farmworkers and their families. The program conducts research that examines the contributions of farmworkers to the economic and social fabric of New York State. Mary Jo’s research on improving workplace relations engages farmers and farmworkers in discussions of workplace communication challenges and a joint exploration of strategies to improve the wellbeing of farmworkers. In 2015 Mary Jo was selected as the George D. Levy Engaged Teaching and Research Awardee, a prestigious award given to a Cornell faculty member each year, and in 2013 she was selected as a Cornell Engaged Learning and Research Faculty Fellow. Her work is recognized at the national level as well and in 2012 she was awarded by President Obama the 2012 White House Champion of Change Cesar Chavez Legacy Award. In 2010 she received the James A. Perkins Prize for Interracial Understanding and Harmony, and the Kaplan Family Distinguished Faculty Fellow in Service-Learning Award, both from Cornell University.