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Senior Leadership Team

The senior leadership team at the Albert Nerken School of Engineering comprises the highest level administrators, deans, and academic department chairs of the College.

As of October 2026

Administration

Barry L. Shoop, Dean, Professor of Electrical Engineering

Lisa A. Shay, Associate Dean for Educational Innovation, Professor of Electrical Engineering

Ruben Savizky, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Professor of Chemistry

Amanda Lombardo, Director, Engineering Laboratories, Shops, and Technicians, Office of the Dean

Academic Department Chairs

Benjamin J. Davis, Professor & Eleanor and Stanley Ensminger Chair of Chemical Engineering

Cosmas Tzavelis, Professor & George Fox Chair of Civil Engineering

Neveen Shlayan, Associate Professor & Chair of Electrical Engineering

Melody Baglione, Professor & George Clark Chair of Mechanical Engineering

Robert Q. Topper, Professor & Chair of Chemistry

Mili Shah , Professor & Chair of Mathematics

Philip Yecko, Professor & Chair of Physics

Sam Keene, Professor & Chair of Computer Science

  • 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.