Cooper Union

Institutes and Centers

Center for Urban InfrastructureOperated under the auspices of the Civil Engineering Department, the research focus of the Center is on New York City and its infrastructure, with special emphasis on renewal, rehabilitation, capacity expansion, and protection of the City’s urban systems
The Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and TypographyIts mission is to focus on the preservation of design history through its core collection of the work of Herb Lubalin and extensive library and archive of design ephemera
Maurice Kanbar Center
for Biomedical EngineeringThe Center provides a venue for research in biomedicine, including orthopedic biomechanics, medical imaging and minimally invasive surgery.
The School of Architecture ArchiveThe Archive is responsible for the ongoing collection, documentation and storage of student work, and now has a record of student work produced at the school since the 1930s. This provides an invaluable record of the pedagogy of the school that can be used for exhibitions, publications and student research

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.