Cooper Union

Michael Jefferson

Instructor Adjunct

Michael Jefferson earned his M.Arch from Cornell University. Prior to joining The Cooper Union, Michael taught at the University of Michigan, Cornell University, and The City College of New York. He has practiced in the offices of OMA, Adjaye Associates, Studio SUMO, and CODA where he was co-project leader for the 2013 MoMA PS1 pavilion, Party Wall. With Suzanne Lettieri, Jefferson is co-principal of Jefferson-Lettieri design and research office. His work has been exhibited in New York, Boston, Venice, and Ithaca and published in the Cornell Journal for Architecture, OfficeUS: Manual, The Plan Journal, and Project.

To view Michael Jefferson's full CV, please click here.

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.