Maurice Otto Graff, university official and labor arbitrator, was born at Minier, Illinois, on October 7, 1907. He received his B.Ed. from Illinois State Normal University in 1929, his M.A. from the State University of Iowa in 1937, and his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 1942.
Graff began his professional career as a high school teacher in Illinois and taught from 1929 to 1940. In 1941 he joined the faculty at Wisconsin State Teachers College, La Crosse. He acted as dean of the college from 1952 to 1963, and vice president for academic affairs from 1963 to 1972. During the period 1972-1973, he assumed the position of vice chancellor of the school.
Throughout his career, Graff maintained a strong interest in labor relations. From 1943 through 1946, he served with the National War Labor Board, 8th Region, in Dallas, first as assistant wage stabilization director and later as disputes director. Since 1946 he has been a member of the arbitration panel of the American Association and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. He also acted as one of the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission's panel of arbitrators. Due to administrative and teaching commitments, his arbitration work for the most part was limited to vacations and other spare moments. Nonetheless, he heard over 200 cases since 1946 and had approximately 75 decisions published in such periodicals as Labor Arbitration Awards and Labor Relations Reporter. He died in 2007, at the age of 99, in Reedsburg, Wisconsin.
