Alumni Richard F. Andrews (EE’79), Samuel M.Dower (ChE’77), Alan I. Goldsmith (ChE’86, MChE’89), James C. Gower (EE’88, MEE’90), Tat-Sing Huen (EE ’77) and Marie L.Wieck (BSE ’82) are each individually supporting The Cooper Union’s new Teaching Technology Initiative—and their gifts will be acknowledged on wall signs in six interdisciplinary classrooms along the east side of 41 Cooper Square—on the first and fifth floors.

As of this writing, a seventh fifth-floor classroom has been jointly underwritten by Cooper couple Paul Antaki (ME ’80) and Eileen Foy Antaki (ME’81),Thomas W.Genega (EE’78),RonaldS.Niles (BSE’87), Robert G. Parkanyi (CE ’81) and Sheila F. McShane (CE ’80).

This critical initiative is the project of Professor Robert P. Hopkins, now The Cooper Union’s Chief Technology Officer. Hopkins has worked at the college since 1972—and through his evolving roles on the faculty of the Albert Nerken School of Engineering and as part of the college’s administration, he has seen, up close and personal, how technology has changed exponentially in those 38 years. Many Cooper Union alumni also experienced these dramatic advances in technology during their time here. And many of them worked through these changes under his attentive guidance.

Now, almost 151 years after The Cooper Union came into being, the college is reinventing itself to remain a significant presence in 21st century education. Each of the building’s twelve classrooms was designed to be used by faculty across The Cooper Union’s disciplines—engineering, art, architecture and the humanities and social sciences.The classrooms are all fully equipped with the most up-to-date audiovisual tools—such as ceiling-mounted projectors and teaching workstations fully loaded with computers, document cameras and DVD players. But because we know that technology advances at almost the speed of light, our goal is to upgrade it as needed.

Generous alumni who fund the Teaching Technology Initiative through a gift or pledge of $5,000-$25,000 will help us maintain our commitment to state-of-the-art technology, while sustaining Peter Cooper’s vision of the full-tuition = scholarship far into the future.

Five classrooms still need to be supported. To learn more about participating in this important project, please contact Deborah Lipton at 212.353.4107 or dlipton@cooper.edu.