Officers

Laura Sparks
President

Peter Buckley
Acting Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Christopher Chamberlin
Dean of Students

Danielle Cooper Daughtry
Governance and External Affairs Officer

Mike Essl
Dean, School of Art

Mitchell Lipton
Vice President of Enrollment Services and Dean of Admissions

John Ruth
Vice President, Finance & Administration 

Richard Stock
Dean, Albert Nerken School of Engineering

Nader Tehrani
Dean, The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture

  • 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.