Eric Hirschhorn

Eric HirschhornEric Hirschhorn ME'89 was elected Vice Chair of the board of trustees in 2016.

He is currently the Chief Information Officer for Cantor Fitzgerald and BGC Partners.  Prior to Cantor, he spent several years in various senior roles on Wall Street, most recently as Managing Director of Global Fixed Income eTrading & Rates Technology at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.  Prior to Bank of America, Mr. Hirschhorn was at Morgan Stanley serving as CTO of Fixed Income, at Citi where he ran Global FX technology, at Lehman where he was responsible for Global Fixed Income eTrading, and at Chase where he ran International Treasury technology.  His professional life has taken him around the world including several years living in London.  Eric is an authority on how technology drives transformation in financial markets.  He is involved in various industry working groups.

Mr. Hirschhorn graduated Cooper Union in 1989.  He holds a Bachelors of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering.  He is co-chair of the Financial Services Affinity Group (FSAG).  The FSAG has provided a connection for hundreds alumni to come back to Cooper several times a year for networking, lectures, and development events. Mr. Hirschhorn is also involved in connecting Cooper Union undergraduates to intern and full time opportunities on Wall Street.

He lives in New Jersey with his wife, Hillary, and their two children.

Role: Trustee, Vice Chair

Elected to the Board: December 2013

Class Term: 2021

Term Limit: 2021

  • 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.