Doug Ashford A'81 is an artist and has taught at Cooper Union since 1989. He is also a visiting Associate Professor for the MFA Program in Painting at The Yale School of Art. Ashford’s principal art practice from 1983 until 1996 was Group Material, a collaborative project that used exhibition design and social practice in museums and other public spaces to imagine new political forms. Prominent in this history are the exhibitions: The Castle (dOCUMENTA 8, Kassel, Germany, 1987), Democracy (The Dia Art Foundation, New York, 1988) and AIDS Timeline (The Berkeley Art Museum 1989, Wadsworth Atheneum, 1990, The Whitney Museum, 1991). Group Material’s work in exhibition production, public cultural display, and the mobilization of politics continue to affect many disciplines in and around the production of contemporary art. The sixteen-year history of the group is documented in the book Show and Tell: A Chronicle of Group Material, (Julie Ault, ed. Four Corners Books, 2010). After 1996, Ashford went on to make paintings, produce exhibitions and publish articles independently and in other collaborations. Who Cares (Creative Time, 2006), is a book project built from a series of conversations between Ashford and an assembly of other cultural practitioners on public expression, beauty, and ethics. His painting installations have been shown recently at dOCUMENTA 13, Kassel (2012), The Henie Onstad Center, Norway (2013) and the 11th Gwangju Biennale (2016). Ashford’s book, Writings and Conversations, (Mousse Publishing, 2013), was published on the occasion of a retrospective exhibition of his work at the Grazer Kunstverein, (AU). His work is represented by Wilfried Lentz Rotterdam.

Professor Melody Baglione received a Ph.D. and M.S.M.E. at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and a B.S.M.E. at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan.  She received the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship and brings with her 7+ years of industry experience (primarily in automotive powertrain systems but also management consulting).  Professor Baglione is currently developing inductive and hands-on teaching methods by integrating case studies, practical laboratories, and real-world projects into the mechanical engineering curriculum.  Her current projects include: a NSF-funded project to incorporate sustainability into the control systems curriculum by creating learning opportunities related to our Building Management System and heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems; designing interactive technologies that promote science, technology, math, and engineering to young children and those with special needs; developing vehicle system models and algorithms for optimizing powertrain configurations and control strategies; and characterizing structural dynamics properties using experimental modal analysis.  Professor Baglione teaches Systems Engineering (ESC161), Feedback Control Systems (ME151), Engineering Mechanics (ESC100), Mechanical Vibrations (ME101), Advanced Mechanical Vibrations (ME401), and Acoustics, Vibration, and Noise Control (EID160).

Dr. Fabiola Barrios-Landeros’ passion for science and thirst for adventure has motivated her to live and conduct research in Mexico, Canada, Switzerland, France and the USA. She received her B.S in Chemistry from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). 

While an undergraduate student, she spent one year as an exchange student at McGill University in Montreal. She earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in Organometallic Chemistry from Yale University followed by two years of post-doctoral training at the University of Basel in Switzerland. Her research work focused on elucidating mechanisms of reactions catalyzed by transition metals and isolating reaction intermediates. 

Dr. Barrios-Landeros moved to New York City in 2009 to join Columbia University as a Frontiers of Science Fellow where she conducted organic chemistry research and taught core curriculum science. She was a faculty member at Yeshiva University for nine years where she taught dozens of chemistry courses and conducted research with undergraduate students and mentored 5 honors theses. Her main research project aims to develop a novel aromatic acyloxylation reaction catalyzed by copper compounds. She was a 2014 recipient of the Cottrell College Science Award by The Research Corporation for Science Advancement. In 2015, she spent one sabbatical semester in Paris conducting research at the École Normale Supérieure. Prof. Barrios-Landeros lives in Manhattan with her husband and three kids; she loves DIY projects, gardening, sewing and cooking without a recipe.

“I am thrilled that Cooper Union holds diversity and inclusion as core values because, as a Latina, these topics resonate with me. I have a deep personal sense of duty to nurture an inclusive campus, to support underrepresented minorities and to bridge the gender gap in STEM. It is an honor to join the Cooper Union faculty and I am eager to make meaningful contributions to the Chemistry Department and the Albert Nerken School of Engineering. I am getting ready to tackle the unique challenges that this Fall semester will bring, and I am looking forward to meet the cohort of extraordinary Cooper students.” – Fabiola Barrios-Landeros