The Board of Trustees and the administration are proud and delighted that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has agreed to deliver the commencement address at The Cooper Union's 154th Commencement in The Great Hall on May 29, 2013.

Mayor Bloomberg's transformational leadership to improve education, public health, the cityscape, and the built environment while also encouraging smart and sustainable economic growth has distinguished his administration.  His persuasive advocacy for gun control and immigration reform resonates across the country, and especially at The Cooper Union, where many of our students are first generation Americans. His determination for New York to thrive as a world-class center of applied science will draw the best and the brightest for decades to come. His record and vision provide an example for our graduates, who will contribute their talents to New York City and beyond. We are honored to have Mayor Bloomberg deliver the keynote address to the Class of 2013.

Michael R. Bloomberg is the 108th Mayor of the City of New York. He was first elected in November 2001, two months after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, a time when many believed that crime would return, businesses would flee, and New York might never recover. Instead, through hundreds of innovative new policies and initiatives, Mayor Bloomberg has made New York City safer, stronger, and greener than ever. 

The 2013 Commencement Student Speaker will be James Allister Sprang (A'2013). Sprang is an artist born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Miami, Florida. His work comprises photography, poetry and performance as a means to navigate the processes in which our voices are appropriated, suppressed, and/or amplified. Sprang has been featured in two HBO documentaries based on the growth of young artists and has performed in venues such as the Apollo Theater, The Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, The Miami Art Museum, and The Gusman Theater of Miami.