In Memoriam

John Thomas "Tom" Delano A'90

John Thomas (Tom) Delano died peacefully, with family by his side, on Thursday, September 25th. A gifted artist, Tom was bright, creative and innovative. He was skilled in multiple mediums and techniques.

Alexandra Kiss AR'05

Alexandra Kiss, a 2005 graduate of The Cooper Union School of Architecture, passed away peacefully at home in Toronto, Canada, on September 2, 2025, in the company of her husband, Amir Shahrokhi AR’05, after a yearlong battle with cancer.

Nathan Silver AR'55

Nathan Silver, an architect whose elegiac 1967 book, “Lost New York,” offered a history lesson about the many buildings that were demolished before the city passed a landmarks preservation law that might have offered protection from the wrecking ball, died on May 19 in London. He was 89.

Marcia Resnick A'72

Marcia Resnick, a fine arts photographer who in the late 1970s pivoted from conceptual work to capture her febrile milieu, New York City’s downtown demimonde, in a series of intimate portraits, mostly of men, including the last studio photos taken of John Belushi, died on Wednesday, June 18 in Ma

  • 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.