John Leeper

John LeepterJohn Leeper (AR’85) is a Project Executive at EE Cruz & Company, Inc. working on the 96th Street Station of the future 2nd Avenue subway. He was a Senior Vice President at Lend Lease (US) Construction LMB Inc and project executive for the Thurgood Marshall US Courthouse MEP upgrade. Prior to that project, he was the Project Director of the National September 11 Memorial Project. He was also the Project Executive of the Fulton Street Transit Center and of the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle. He has been working on large NYC Construction projects since 1984. Mr. Leeper has worked in the Construction Industry since 1968 starting as a laborer. Prior to attending Cooper, he worked for Peter Eisenman as a model maker. He has taught the Construction Management course in the Albert Nerken School of Engineering. He served as CUAA Secretary/Treasurer and on the Editorial and John Q. Hejduk Award committees. He co-chaired the 2006 Founder’s Day Dinner Dance. Mr. Leeper is one half of a Cooper Couple with Gilly Youner (A’82).He has a BA in Math and studio Art from Wesleyan University.

Alumni Association President since 2013

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.