Jay Tabb was born in the Ukraine, grew up and studied in the U.S.A., immigrated to Israel and joined the Technion’s Department of General Studies in 1954, with the rank of Senior Lecturer. He was promoted to the rank of Full Professor in 1968. He founded the Extension Division of the Technion, and served as its Director until 1961. Later he joined the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management, and established there the graduate studies in Labor Relations and Personnel Management, and served as their first Head. As a member of numerous faculty and Technion committees, he contributed to the effectiveness of personnel management at the Technion.

He retired from the Technion in 1974, and lived in Arad with his wife Jean until his death.

Professor Tabb was instrumental in promoting the study of labor relations on an academic level, and several of his graduate students occupy central academic and industrial positions in Israel. By instituting extension courses at the Technion and at the Productivity Institute of Israel, he encouraged many practitioners in the field of personnel management to expand their professional horizons. He also was one of the founders of the Israel Industrial Relations Research Association, and served as its first President. In addition, he was a long-time member of the board of the Israel Management Center.

His past experience in the U.S.A. in labor relations and especially with unions enabled him to develop close relationships with the Histadrut, with managements and with government agencies involved in labor relations in Israel. He served as a consultant to industry and the Histadrut on issues of manpower development and labor relations, and was sent on several professional missions by the ILO (International Labor Organization). He also served as a member of the board of directors of numerous government agencies concerned with issues of manpower.

Jay Tabb wrote several case studies about human resource management and co- authored the first Hebrew textbooks about labor relations in Israel and about human relations in industry.

The Jay Y. Tabb Prize for excellent graduate research in Labor Relations and Human Resources was established in his honor by his wife Jean.

His imprint on the fields of his interest stays with us!