A memorial service was held Aug. 10 in Boca Raton, Fla., for Joseph Shister, a UB professor of economics and labor relations for more than 30 years who died Aug. 7 in his home after a lengthy illness. He was 83.

A renowned labor mediator, Shister was moderator of the "University of Buffalo Round Table," a discussion program on WBEN-AM, WBEN-FM and WBEN-TV, from 1952-72. He also served as the chair of the former Department of Industrial Relations in the School of Management.

Born in the Ukraine, he came to Montreal with his parents in 1921 and studied at the University of Montreal. Coming to the United States in 1939, he earned master's and doctoral degrees from Harvard University. He taught at Cornell, Syracuse and Yale universities before joining the UB faculty in 1949.

Shister was the author or co-author of more than 50 books and articles on labor economics, industrial relations and collective bargaining.

He was chosen by the The Buffalo News as one of Western New York's outstanding citizens in 1954 after he devised a cost-of-living formula for determining wage increases in labor-contract negotiations.

He was a national referee for airlines and railroads for the National Mediation Board, chairman of the New York State Minimum Wage Board for the amusement and recreation industries, chairman of the Erie County Grievance Board and a labor arbitrator in more than 2,000 cases involving major corporations and unions.