Board of Trustees Update: New Members

POSTED ON: July 12, 2012

External Cooper Union Foundation Building

The Board of Trustees voted at its June meeting to make President Jamshed Bharucha a voting member of the Board. It is a best practice for presidents of colleges and universities to serve as voting members of their institution’s board, according to The Whelan Group, which has concluded an assessment for strengthening Board governance at The Cooper Union.

Joseph B. Dobronyi Jr. was elected to the Board in April.  The Board of Trustees has maintained a tradition of including a direct descendant of Peter Cooper on the Board; Dobronyi replaced Marc F. Appelton, another descendent, who served on the Board from 2003-2012. Mr. Dobronyi is Peter Cooper's great great great grandson.

Peter Cafiero (CE’83), president of The Cooper Union Alumni Association (CUAA), is a voting member of the Board of Trustees as of July 1, per the most recent amendment to The Cooper Union bylaws, which now grants the alumni association president a voting seat on the Board of Trustees. Previously, Cafiero had served as an ex-officio member of the Board.
 
Thomas Driscoll (ME’77), who served as an Alumni Trustee from 2007-2011 was also elected in June as Trustee.

More News from The Cooper Union

  • 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.