In Memoriam

Vincent Ceci A'60

Vincent Ceci passed away peacefully on January 21, 2026. After earning his degree from The Cooper Union, he proceeded to become a graphic Design Director at Push Pin Studios, where he worked alongside other Cooper graduates like Milton Glaser A'51 and Seymour Chwast A'51.

Rubin Boxer EE'49

(Reuven ben Menachem Mendel v’Gluckel) Rubin "Rube" Boxer passed away at the age of 99 after an accomplished career and devoted synogogue leadership in Santa Barbara.

Nyna Brael Polumbaum A'44

Before Nyna Brael Polumbaum graduated from Cooper, she graduated from the first class of the New York High School of Music and Art, which later became the Fiorello LaGuardia High School of Music and the Arts. She went on to attend Yale School of Fine Arts for Drama, as well.

Lucien Smith A'11

The abstract painter Lucien Smith passed away on September 8, 2026 at the age of 37.

  • 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.