Michael Borkowsky BME'61

Michael BorkowskyMr. Borkowsky retired from Bristol-Myers Squibb Company in June 2000 as Vice President for Corporate Development after spending fifteen years in various positions including President of Clairol Appliances, and Vice President for Development of the Consumer Products International Division.

Prior to Bristol-Myers Squibb, Mr. Borkowsky spent fifteen years at Chesebrough-Pond's, Inc., as President of Prince Manufacturing, Inc., the company's tennis products subsidiary, Corporate Vice President for New Business Development, which included responsibility for initiating sales to mainland China in 1980, and Vice President-Marketing for its Health & Beauty Products Division. He started his career at BBDO Advertising in Market Research and Account Management.

A longtime active member of the Cooper Union Alumni Association, he first joined the Alumni Association Governing Board in 1964 and served as its president from 1991 to 1993. Mr. Borkowsky was awarded the President's Citation in 1993 and named Alumnus of the Year in 1996. He has served on the Boards of Marcel Dekker, Inc., Willinger Brothers, Inc., Burt Sports, Inc. and The United Way of Greenwich.

Mr. Borkowsky earned a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree from Cooper Union in 1961 and a Master's degree in Industrial Management from Purdue University in 1962, where he was a Purdue Research Foundation Fellow.

Member of The Cooper Union Board since 1996

Term Ends: 2013

  • 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.