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Union @ Cooper Union

Union @ Cooper Union is a union of full-time and part-time clerical, administrative, technical and buildings and grounds maintenance staff with over 120 members employed at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. We are a self-governing union whose elected officers and area reps volunteer to serve on the Executive Committee that represents its members. To contact the UCU Executive Committee, email memberucu@gmail.com

Executive Committee

Benefits Officer
Christian Carter
Lab Technician: Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Departments

Discipline Officer
Toni Burrell
Assistant Director, Center for Career Development

Grievance Officer
Inessa Shkolnikov
Design Director

Negotiations Officer
Matthew Bower
Communications Specialist

Outreach Officer
Sam Draxler
Special Initiatives Coordinator, School of Art

Secretary
Cecilia Cammisa
Assistant Director, Major Gifts & Gift Planning

Treasurer
Simone Meltesen
Operations Manager, Continuing Education

Area Representatives

Area 100 - School of Engineering, Saturday Program, CURF, The Writing Center, Humanities
Representative: Brian Yudin | Student Shop/Mechanical Engineering Design Studio Technician

Area 200 - Schools of Architecture and Art
Representative: Lea Cetera | Adjunct Instructor, School of Art; Technical Assistant, Art and Architecture Shop

Area 300 - Building and Grounds
Representative: Dean Gunnison | Maintenance, Buildings and Grounds

Area 400 - Admissions, Development, Continuing Education, External Affairs, Student Services
Representative: Crystal Ortiz | Assistant Director, Special Events

Area 500 - Business Office, Computer Center, Design Center, Office Services, Library, Lubalin Center, President’s Office
Representative: unfilled position, please contact memberucu@gmail.com

  • 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.