In Memoriam

Curtis B. Wayne AR'75

Curtis B. Wayne AR'75 passed away in March 2023.

Amy Filice AR'73

Amy Elizabeth Walker Filice AR'73, age 71, passed away December 27, 2019 from cancer. Filice obtained her Master's Degree in Architecture at The Cooper Union in New York City. She practiced as one of few women architects under famed architect Richard Meier as well as at firms in Saint Paul and Atlanta. A private ceremony was held to celebrate her life during the pandemic.

Vincent Calicchia EE'65

Vincent Francis Calicchia Sr. EE'65, age 89, of Houston, TX, formally from Brooklyn, NY, and Massapequa Park, NY, passed away in his home in Cypress, TX, surrounded by family Friday, March 24, 2023.  

To read his obituary, please click here.

John Lapato ME'77

John Lapato ME'77 was born on June 24,1955 in Brooklyn, NY. He was the third child of John and Florence Lapato. He grew up in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn. He attended elementary school at SS. Cyril & Methodius School in Greenpoint and St. Anne's School in Flushing, Queens. He graduated from Holy Cross High School in 1972. He then attended Cooper Union in Manhattan, where he graduated in 1976 with a degree in engineering.

  • 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.