SHRM’s 2011 Michael R. Losey Human Resource Research Award was given to Sara Rynes, the John F. Murray professor of management and organizations at the University of Iowa, October 5 at the SHRM Strategy Conference in Chicago.

The $50,000 Losey award, given by the boards of SHRM, the HR Certification Institute, and the SHRM Foundation, recognizes human resources professionals or researchers whose contributions significantly advance the field of human resource management, according to a SHRM press release. The award acknowledges major research accomplishments and helps fund future individual contributions to the field.

Rynes is most recognized for her research on employee compensation and recruitment, as well as the transfer of knowledge between HR academics and HR professionals. Her research has focused on issues such as recruiter and job applicant perceptions during the recruiting process, gender inequality in compensation, and alternative compensation policies.

“Rynes’ research offers solutions to pressing issues in the HR community, including knowledge transfer, rethinking compensation strategies, and improving the employee recruitment process,” said Henry G. (Hank) Jackson, the president and CEO of SHRM. “The Losey Award both recognizes the importance of her research to date and to come.”

The award, presented by Hank Jackson, Gardiner Hempel and Howard Klein, was established in 2000 and named in honor of former SHRM President and CEO Michael R. Losey, SPHR, CAE. SHRM, the HR Certification Institute, and the SHRM Foundation jointly funded the endowment, which is endowed with a $1million gift.

“It’s an honor and a humbling experience to be recognized and receive this prestigious award,” said Rynes. “In being recognized for my work by colleagues, I feel like they have put their trust and confidence in me, and that motivates me to try even harder to make sure I have earned that trust.”

In addition to her professorship at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business, Rynes is a former editor of the Academy of Management Journal. She was a visiting scholar at the University of New South Wales’s Australian School of Business in 2009 and at Boston College in 2008. Also, she taught at Cornell University, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and the University of Minnesota.

Rynes has served as a consultant and trainer for numerous organizations, including IBM, AT&T, J.C. Penney, Citigroup, 3M, Merrill Lynch, Kraft-General Foods, and CIGNA. She is a fellow of the Academy of Management, the Society for Industrial & Organizational Psychology, and the American Psychological Association.

In addition to authoring many articles, Rynes is the co-author and editor of three books: Compensation: Theory, Evidence, and Strategic Implications; Compensation in Organizations: Progress and Prospects, and Current Issues in Human Resource Management.

Her awards include the Management Education Research Institute $50,000 Fellowship, the Herbert G. Heneman, Jr. Career Achievement Award, Human Resources Division from the Academy of Management, and the Moskowitz Prize.

Rynes earned a doctorate and a master’s degree in industrial relations from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

For more information, visit Michael R. Losey Human Resource Research Award Web page.