Commencement

Cooper Union Stock Photo

Shigeru Ban AR'84, winner of the 2014 Pritzker Prize, will address the graduating class at The Cooper Union's 155th commencement.

Shigeru Ban

“It is with great honor and pride that we announce Shigeru Ban as this year’s commencement speaker,” said Cooper Union President Jamshed Bharucha. “Ban has helped millions of people through architecture. His buildings provide shelter to those most in need, and he is an example of all the good that smart design can do in this world.” 

The Cooper Union's 155th Commencement will take place on Wednesday May 28, 2014, 10:30 am in The Great Hall of the Foundation Building at 7 East 7th Street. It is an invitation-only event and is not open to the public.

Ban has received many awards over his career, including TIME magazine’s Innovator of the Year in 2001, the Prix de l'Académie d'Architecture de France in 2004, and the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize – one of the nation’s highest awards in the field of architecture – in March 2014. His socially conscious work includes the design of temporary shelters for the victims of natural disasters in Haiti, India, Turkey and Japan.

For those attending commencement, please see our seperate pages for directions, hotel accommodations (including discounted rates) and parking. 

For a schedule please see the schedule page.

For more information please read the frequently asked questions page.

For background please see the commencement traditions page.

Please check back on this site for updates and new information.

  • 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.