The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a
private college
Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grants. De ...
at
Cooper Square in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported
École Polytechnique in France. The school was built on a radical new model of American higher education based on Cooper's belief that an education "equal to the best technology schools established" should be accessible to those who qualify, independent of their race, religion, sex, wealth or social status, and should be "open and free to all." Cooper is considered to be one of the most prestigious colleges in the United States, with all three of its member schools consistently ranked among the highest in the country.
The Cooper Union originally offered free courses to its admitted students, and when a four-year undergraduate program was established in 1902, the school granted each admitted student a full-tuition scholarship. Following
its own financial crisis, the school decided to abandon this policy starting in the fall of 2014 with each incoming student receiving at least a half-tuition merit scholarship, with additional school financial support.
The school plans to gradually reinstate full-tuition scholarships for undergraduates by the 2028–2029 academic year.
The college is divided into three schools: the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, the School of Art, and the Albert Nerken School of Engineering. It offers
undergraduate and
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. programs exclusively in the fields of
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...
,
fine arts
In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwor ...
(undergraduate only), and
engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
. It is a member of the
Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology
The ABET (incorporated as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc.) is a non-governmental organization that accredits post-secondary education programs in applied and natural sciences, computing, engineering and engineeri ...
(ABET) and the
Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design
The Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD) is a non-profit consortium of 36 art and design schools in the United States and Canada. All AICAD member institutions have a curriculum with full liberal arts and sciences requir ...
(AICAD).
Cooper Union was one of very few American institutions of higher learning to offer a full-tuition scholarship – valued at approximately $150,000 as of 2012 – to every admitted student. Cooper Union has historically been one of the most selective colleges in the United States, with an acceptance rate typically below 10 percent. Both the art and architecture schools have acceptance rates below 5 percent. Cooper Union experienced a 20 percent increase in applications for the 2008–2009 academic year, further lowering the acceptance rate. The school also experienced a 70 percent increase in
early decision applications for the 2009–2010 academic year. As a result of its record low acceptance ratio for the fall-2010 incoming class, Cooper Union was named by ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'' as the "#1 Most Desirable Small School".
History
Founding and early history
The Cooper Union was founded in 1859
[ Founding enabled by a NY State Act of February 17, 1857. The land is conveyed for one dollar.] by
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
industrialist
A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through per ...
Peter Cooper, who was a prolific inventor, successful entrepreneur, and one of the richest businessmen in the United States. Cooper was a workingman's son who had less than a year of formal schooling, and yet became an industrialist and inventor. Cooper designed and built America's first steam
railroad engine, and made a fortune with a glue factory and iron foundry. After achieving wealth, he turned his entrepreneurial skills to successful ventures in
real estate
Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more genera ...
, insurance and railroads. He was a principal investor and first president of the
New York, Newfoundland and London Telegraph Company, which laid the first
transatlantic telegraph cable, and once ran for
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
under the
Greenback Party, becoming the oldest person ever nominated for the office.
Cooper's dream was to give talented young people the one privilege he lacked: a good education from an institution which was "open and free to all." He felt that this would make possible the development of talent that otherwise might have gone undiscovered.
To achieve these goals, Cooper designated the bulk of his wealth, primarily in the form of real estate holdings, to the creation and funding of The Cooper Union, a tuition-free school with courses made freely available to any applicant. According to ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' in 1863, "It was rare that those of limited means, however eager they might be to acquire a knowledge of some of the higher branches of education, could obtain tuition in studies not named in the regular course taught in our public schools. Since the opening of this institute, all who desire, and particularly those who work for their own support, can avail themselves, free of charge, of all the advantages the institution affords...those
tudentsonly are supposed to pay anything who are abundantly able, or prefer to do so." Discrimination based on ethnicity, religion, or sex was expressly prohibited. People with limited funds could obtain tuition in studies and receive knowledge from branches of higher education where all were welcomed, free of charge, to the opportunities the institution grants.
Development after founding
Originally intended to be named simply "the Union", the Cooper Union began with
adult education in night classes on the subjects of
applied sciences and
architectural drawing, as well as day classes primarily intended for women on the subjects of photography, telegraphy, typewriting and
shorthand
Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''s ...
in what was called the college's Female School of Design. The early institution also had a free reading room open day and night, the first in New York City (predating the
New York Public Library system, which did not become free until 1895), and a new four-year nighttime engineering college for men and a few women.
In 1883, a five-year curriculum in
chemistry
Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, proper ...
was added as an alternative to the applied science (engineering) program. A daytime engineering college was added in 1902, thanks to funds contributed by
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in ...
.
Initial board members included
Daniel F. Tiemann,
John E. Parsons,
Horace Greeley and
William Cullen Bryant, and those who availed themselves of the institute's courses in its early days included
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. From a French-Irish family, Saint-Gaudens was raised in New York City, he tra ...
,
Thomas Alva Edison[Topper, Robert]
"Thomas Edison, Chemistry and Cooper Union"
on the Cooper Union website and
William Francis Deegan
William Francis Deegan (December 28, 1882 – April 3, 1932) was an architect, organizer of the American Legion, major in the Army Corps of Engineers, and Democratic political leader in New York City.
Biography
He was born on December 28, 1 ...
.
The Cooper Union's free classes – a landmark in American history and the prototype for what is now called continuing education – have evolved into three schools: the School of Art, the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, and the Albert Nerken School of Engineering. Peter Cooper's dream of providing an education "equal to the best" has since become reality. Since 1859, the Cooper Union has educated thousands of artists, architects, and engineers, many of them leaders in their fields.
After 1864 there were a few attempts to merge Cooper Union and
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, but these were never realized.
The
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, was founded in 1897 as part of Cooper Union by Sarah, Eleanor, and Amy Hewitt, granddaughters of Peter Cooper.
Structure-building era
The Foundation Building
Cooper Union's Foundation Building is an Italianate
brownstone building designed by architect
Fred A. Petersen
Fred A. Petersen (1808-1885) was an American architect. He was one of the original 13 founders of the American Institute of Architects. He was born in Prussia. He was a political refugee having escaped from imprisonment for his involvement in the ...
, one of the founders of the
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to s ...
. It was the first structure in New York City to feature rolled-iron
I-beam
An I-beam, also known as H-beam (for universal column, UC), w-beam (for "wide flange"), universal beam (UB), rolled steel joist (RSJ), or double-T (especially in Polish, Bulgarian, Spanish, Italian and German), is a beam with an or -shap ...
s for structural support; Peter Cooper himself invented and produced these beams. Petersen patented a fire-resistant hollow brick tile he used in the building's construction.
The building was the first in the world to be built with an elevator shaft, because Cooper, in 1853, was confident an elevator would soon be invented. However, Cooper expected elevator carriages to be cylindrical, so he designed and built the shaft in the shape of a circle. The building was declared a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...
in 1961,
and a
New York City Landmark in 1965, and added to the
Historic American Engineering Record in 1971.
The Foundation Building's Great Hall
On February 27, 1860, the school's Great Hall, located in the basement level of the Foundation Building, became the site of a historic address by
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
.
[Harold Holzer](_blank)
"The Speech that Made the Man," ''American Heritage'', Winter 2010.
"Lincoln made his address on a snowy night before about 1,500 persons."
Abraham Lincoln's speech opposed
Stephen A. Douglas on the question of federal power to regulate and limit the spread of
slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
to the federal territories and new States. Lincoln differentiated his claims from "those of the Democrats, who accused Republicans of being a sectional party, or of helping John Brown's
raid on Harpers Ferry
Raid, RAID or Raids may refer to:
Attack
* Raid (military), a sudden attack behind the enemy's lines without the intention of holding ground
* Corporate raid, a type of hostile takeover in business
* Panty raid, a prankish raid by male college ...
, or threatened secession if Lincoln were elected.
Widely reported in the press and reprinted throughout the North in pamphlet form, the speech galvanized support for Lincoln and contributed to his gaining the Party's nomination for the
Presidency
A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by ...
. It is now referred to as the
Cooper Union Address
The Cooper Union speech or address, known at the time as the Cooper Institute speech, was delivered by Abraham Lincoln on February 27, 1860, at Cooper Union, in New York City. Lincoln was not yet the Republican nominee for the presidency, as the ...
.
Since then, the Great Hall has served as a platform for historic addresses by
American Presidents
The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term via the Electoral College. The officeholder leads the executive branch of the federal government and ...
Grant,
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...
,
[
] Taft,
[
] Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
,
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
,
and
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
. Clinton spoke on May 12, 1993, about reducing the federal deficit and again on May 23, 2006, as the Keynote Speaker at The Cooper Union's 147th Commencement along with
Anna Deavere Smith.
He appeared a third time on April 23, 2007, along with Senator
Edward Kennedy,
Henry Kissinger
Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...
,
Norman Mailer, and others, at the memorial service for historian
Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. Most recently,
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
delivered an economic policy speech at Cooper Union's Great Hall on April 22, 2010.
On September 22, 2014, President of the
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas delivered his first formal speech in English, sponsored by
Churches for Middle East Peace, calling for peace with Israel that would include a new timetable for a two-state solution.
In addition to addresses by political figures, the Great Hall hosts semi-annual meetings of the
New York City Rent Control Board, as well as incidental organized protests and recreational events. It is the stage for Cooper Union's
commencement ceremony as well as the annual student orientation meeting for incoming freshman students. Cooper Union's Great Hall was also the site of the school's inauguration, whose primary address was given by the school's founder Peter Cooper on November 2, 1859. Other speakers in the Great Hall have included
Fredrick Douglass
Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...
,
Susan B. Anthony,
Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
Mark Twain, and others.
The Great Hall also continues to serve as an important metropolitan art space and has hosted lectures and performances by such key figures as
Joseph Campbell,
Steve Reich,
Salman Rushdie
Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and ...
,
Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes.
The son of Lebanese immigrants to the Un ...
,
Hamza Yusuf,
Richard Stallman
Richard Matthew Stallman (; born March 16, 1953), also known by his initials, rms, is an American free software movement activist and programmer. He campaigns for software to be distributed in such a manner that its users have the freedom to ...
,
Rudolph Giuliani,
Pema Chodron Pema ( or ) is a Tibetan name meaning " lotus", which originated as a loanword from Sanskrit '' padma''. People who have this name as one of their given namesNote that Tibetan names generally do not have surnames. See e.g. include:
Buddhist teach ...
,
Michael Bloomberg,
Evo Morales, and Venezuelan president
Hugo Chávez. When not occupied by external or hosted events, the Great Hall is made accessible to students and faculty for large lectures and recreational activities, including the school's annual Culture Show. The Hall's audio/visual resources are operated by a student staff under faculty management, as part of Cooper Union's extensive
work-study employment program, though some high-profile hosted events are operated by professional staff. In 1994, the Cooper Union Forum of Public Programs was honored with a
Village Award from the
Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
Village Preservation (formerly the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, or GVSHP) is a non-profit organization which advocates for the preservation of architecture and culture in several neighborhoods of Lower Manhattan, New York. ...
.
In late 2008, the Great Hall was closed to students and outside events for the first major renovation of the hall since 1978. This renovation and redecoration was overseen by Sam Anderson Architects, a firm created and led by Cooper Union School of Architecture alumni, while the Arup Acoustics company was responsible for analysis and renovation of the hall's
acoustic profile, which included installation of modern sound diffusion paneling on the rear walls. The audience seats, which had not been altered since a prior renovation in 1906, were replaced by modern seating designed to replicate the unique shape of the original furniture. In addition, the audio/visual and lighting systems of the Great Hall were updated to modern standards, including installation of ceiling-mounted digital projectors and
intelligent lighting fixtures, to meet the increasing demands of hosted and student events. The hallway and lobby leading to the Great Hall were also redecorated during the renovation period, with additions featuring historical information and primary source documents relevant to the space. In 2015, the Great Hall hosted a musical tribute devoted to the men, women and children affected by the American Civil War over 150 years before.
Modern changes
The Cooper Union evolved over time into its current form, featuring schools in architecture,
fine art
In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwor ...
, and engineering. At present, these three fields represent Cooper Union's degree programs (exclusively). The Faculty of Humanities and Social Studies provides classes and faculty to all three programs.
Modern curricular changes include the consolidation of the School of Engineering's interdisciplinary engineering (IDE) major and
BSE program, after faculty reviews of the two programs yielded votes of no confidence and concerns of limited support.
In September 1992, Cooper Union opened its Student Residence Hall, located across 3rd Avenue from the Foundation Building, as the school's first-ever
on-campus housing resource. This apartment-style dormitory provides living space for 178 students, or approximately one-fifth of the school's student population. In addition to
resident assistants, the Residence Hall provides living spaces for incoming freshman students of all three schools. New first-year students are not required to live in the dormitory building, unlike housing policies of many other universities. Remaining space in the building, when available, is allocated to upper-class students based on individual housing needs.
In 2002, the school decided to generate additional needed revenue by razing its engineering building and having it replaced with a commercial building, and also replacing its Hewitt Building with a
New Academic Building. In response to concerns by East Village residents and local elected officials that the development might convert their artistic neighborhood into a sterile business campus, Cooper Union altered the building designs and sizes that were then approved by city planners.
In 2016, in response to two years of pressure from the student body, Cooper Union "de-gendered" its bathrooms, removing all "Men" and "Women" signs and making them all gender-neutral.
41 Cooper Square
A new classroom, laboratory, and studio facility designed by
Thom Mayne of Morphosis Architecture with associate architect Gruzen Samton completed construction in Summer 2009, replacing the aging Hewitt Academic Building at
41 Cooper Square. In contrast to the Foundation Building, 41 Cooper Square is of modern, environmentally
"green" design, housing nine above-ground floors and two basements. The structure features unconventional architectural features, including a full-height Grand Atrium, prevalent interior windows, a four-story linear central staircase, and upper-level
skyways, which reflect the design intention of inspiring, socially interactive space for students and faculty. In addition, the building's design allows for up to 75%
natural lighting, further reducing energy costs. Other "green" features in the design include
servo-controlled external wall panels, which can be swiveled open or closed individually in order to regulate interior light and temperature, as well as motorized drapes on all exterior windows. In 2010, 41 Cooper Square became the first academic and laboratory structure in New York City to meet Platinum-level
LEED standards for energy efficiency. The building was funded in part by alumni donations, materialized in nameplates and other textual recognition throughout the building.
Primarily designed to house the Cooper Union's School of Engineering and School of Art, the new building's first eight above-ground floors are populated by classrooms, small engineering laboratories, study lounges, art studio space, and faculty offices. The ninth, top floor is dedicated completely to School of Art studio and classroom space in addition to the art studio spaces located throughout the building. The lowest basement level consists almost completely of the school's large machine shops and design laboratories, as well as much of the
HVAC and supply
infrastructure. The building's first basement level houses primarily the Frederick P. Rose Auditorium, a 198-capacity
lecture hall
A lecture hall (or lecture theatre) is a large room used for instruction, typically at a college or university. Unlike a traditional classroom with a capacity normally between one and fifty, the capacity of lecture halls is usually measured i ...
and event space designed as a smaller, more modern alternative to the Great Hall. In addition, the first basement's Menschel Conference Room provides a high-profile space for meetings and classes, and features a high-definition
videoconferencing
Videotelephony, also known as videoconferencing and video teleconferencing, is the two-way or multipoint reception and transmission of audio signal, audio and video signals by people in different locations for Real-time, real time communication. ...
system linked to two other similar spaces in the upper floors of the building.
Connecting the first four floors of 41 Cooper Square is the linear Grand Staircase, which is used both for transportation and as a recreational space for students. Higher floors are connected by floating interior
skyways, in addition to two standard corner staircases and three passenger elevators. At the peak of the Grand Staircase is the Ware & Drucker Student Lounge, which houses a small cafeteria service for students as well as a relaxed, naturally lit study location.
Financial support
A substantial portion of the annual budget, which supports the full-tuition scholarships in addition to the school's costs, is generated through revenues from real estate. In addition, the value of its real estate is a very important asset to the college, and has increased its endowment to over $600 million. The land under the
Chrysler Building is owned by the endowment, and as of 2009, Cooper Union received $7 million per year from this parcel. Further, under a very unusual arrangement, New York City real-estate taxes assessed against the Chrysler lease, held by
Aby Rosen,
are paid to Cooper Union, not the city. This arrangement would be voided if Cooper Union sold the real estate. In 2006, Tishman Speyer signed a deal with the school to pay rent that has escalated to $32.5 million in 2018, and will increase to $41 million in 2028 and $55 million in 2038. During the national real estate crash in 2009, Cooper Union investment committee Chair John Michaelson acknowledged to ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' that Tishman Speyer "would not do that deal today" since such a generous deal had been made near the peak of the real estate boom.
Financial crisis and tuition controversy
Around October 29, 2011, rumors circulated the school was in serious financial trouble. On October 31, a series of open forums were held with students, faculty, and alumni to address the crisis.
Current and past students voiced opposition on social networking sites and in print publications to the plan to begin charging tuition. The then-president of the school,
Jamshed Bharucha, indicated depletion of the school's endowment required additional sources of funding. A possible tuition levy and more pointed solicitation of alumni donations and research grants were being considered to offset recent financial practices such as
liquidating assets and spending heavily on
41 Cooper Square, a controversial new academic building. On April 24, 2012, the college announced approval from its board of trustees to attempt to establish a new tuition-based cross-disciplinary graduate program, expand its fee-based continuing education programs, and impose tuition on some students in its existing graduate programs, effective September 2013.
In December 2012, as a protest against the possibility of undergraduate tuition being charged, 11 students occupied a suite in the Foundation Building for a week. Solicitation of additional endowment to support the free tuition policy was complicated by the school's policy of granting full tuition scholarships to wealthy students. Charging high tuition was complicated by the school's lack of customary amenities offered by other high-tuition schools.
On April 23, 2013, ''The New York Times'' reported the college had announced it would end its free tuition policy for undergraduates, beginning in fall 2014. The administration maintained that they would continue to offer need-based tuition remission to incoming undergraduates on a
sliding scale.
On May 8, 2013, a group of students occupied President Bharucha's office in protest over the end of free tuition. The administration, board of trustees, and those members of the Cooper Union community who had been occupying the Office of the President since early May reached an agreement that ended the occupation on July 12.
Throughout 2013, 2014, and 2015, the Committee to Save Cooper Union (CSCU) — a coalition of former and current students, alumni and faculty — campaigned to reverse this decision, urging the president and the board of trustees to return Cooper Union to “its tuition-free and merit-based mission, ensure the school’s fiscal recovery, and establish better governance structures.”
On September 1, 2015, the school and the CSCU announced the CSCU's lawsuit against the school's administration was resolved in the form of a
consent decree signed by Cooper Union, then-New York State's
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
Eric Schneiderman, and the CSCU. The decree includes provisions for returning to a sustainable, tuition-free policy, increased board transparency, additional student, faculty and alumni trustees, an independent financial monitor appointed by the Attorney General, and a search committee to identify the next full-term president.
On January 15, 2018, the Free Education Committee (FEC) of the school's Board of Trustees released their recommended plan to return to full-tuition scholarships for undergraduates only by the academic year starting in the fall of 2028. In March 2018, the Board released its approved, updated version with the same milestone.
Academics
The Albert Nerken School of Engineering
The Cooper Union's School of Engineering is named in honor of Albert Nerken, a chemical engineering alumnus of the school. Its enrollment includes about 550 students, and is the largest of the three schools by a significant margin. It is one of the most prestigious and selective engineering schools in the United States, consistently ranked within the top ten undergraduate engineering programs among non-doctorate-awarding schools nationwide. The school offers
ABET-accredited
Bachelor of Engineering
A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an academic undergraduate degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited college or university.
In the UK, a Ba ...
(BE) degree programs in core engineering fields and an interdisciplinary
Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) degree. Opportunities are also available for engineering students to pursue minors in bioengineering, computer science, humanities and social sciences, and mathematics.
Specialized facilities for teaching and research include the Maurice Kanbar Center for Biomedical Engineering established in 2002 and the interdisciplinary Maker Space Lab, established in 2020 for the use of engineering, art, and architecture students.
Master's in Engineering
The School of Engineering offers master's degrees in chemical, civil, electrical, or mechanical engineering. Although all departments offer a thesis option, in some cases students may pursue a master's degree solely through coursework and projects. A "4 +" dual degree option is also available whereby Cooper Union undergraduate engineering students may earn a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in as little as 5 years.
The School of Art
Consisting of roughly 200 students and 70 faculty members, the Cooper Union School of Art offers a
Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree and a Certificate of Fine Arts.
As a member school of
AICAD
The Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD) is a non-profit consortium of 36 art and design schools in the United States and Canada. All AICAD member institutions have a curriculum with full liberal arts and sciences requir ...
, School of Art students may participate in exchange programs with the other colleges in the association, including
California Institute of the Arts and
Otis College of Art and Design.
The Cooper Union Art program is often referred to as "
generalist" or "versatile" when compared to other Fine Arts colleges; incoming students do not choose an
academic major within the Fine Arts field, but instead are permitted and encouraged to select courses from any of the School of Art's departments. This approach allows for a personalized curriculum which addresses each student's particular interests, regardless of variation or eclecticism. In addition, the program and curriculum place heavy emphasis on each student's creative and imaginative abilities, rather than technical precision in a specific medium, to develop the social awareness and critical analysis skills relevant to art in the contemporary world.
Galleries
Located in both public spaces and specialized rooms, Cooper Union's galleries provide space for installations and showcases by students, faculty, and guest artists.
Popular gallery locations include the Great Hall lobby in the Foundation Building and newly opened 41 Cooper Gallery in 41 Cooper Square, which provides a two-story high space for large, three-dimensional exhibitions and works visible from both the building lobby and 7th street through large plate-glass windows.
In addition, numerous smaller exhibition spaces exist throughout both buildings on campus, providing space for student projects and individual artwork to be displayed. Larger spaces on the upper floors of the Foundation Building are used primarily for interdisciplinary exhibitions with the School of Architecture. For presentations of video and digital media, the Great Hall and 41 Cooper Square's Rose Auditorium are used. Exhibition resources including frames, stands, projectors, and mounting hardware are provided to students and faculty by the school's Buildings and Grounds department.
Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture
The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union offers a five-year NAAB accredited program established by
John Hejduk. The school ranks among the top five architecture programs in the United States. The philosophical foundation of the school was directly committed to the "Social Contract" and dedicated to education as "one of the last places that protects freedom, and teaching as a sociopolitical act, among other things." among those other things were principles of free debate and theoretical discourse which drew source from deep wellsprings of lost histories such as the
Bauhaus
The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...
school of Architecture founded by
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
The current five-year Design sequence (2016) is structured by elements of architectural practice to varying degrees of claim: investigation of program, construction methods i.e. structure, and square footage. Classroom facilities include a lecture room (315), seminar classrooms, and ample facade and flat surface space for presentation. There is also a computer and fabrication lab available for student productions on the seventh floor.
The faculty includes influential practicing architects, design and construction managers such as
Peter Eisenman
Peter Eisenman (born August 11, 1932) is an American architect. Considered one of the New York Five, Eisenman is known for his writing and speaking about architecture as well as his designs, which have been called high modernist or deconstructiv ...
,
Samuel Anderson, Elizabeth O'Donnell,
Nader Tehrani
Nader Tehrani (born 1963 in London) is an Iranian-American designer and educator.
In 2011 in partnership with Katherine Faulkner, Tehrani founded NADAAA, a practice dedicated to the advancement of design innovation, interdisciplinary collaborat ...
, and
Diana Agrest. Former faculty members include notable architects such as
Michael Webb,
Peter Eisenman
Peter Eisenman (born August 11, 1932) is an American architect. Considered one of the New York Five, Eisenman is known for his writing and speaking about architecture as well as his designs, which have been called high modernist or deconstructiv ...
,
Raimund Abraham,
Lebbeus Woods,
Diane Lewis and
John Hejduk.
Master of Architecture II
The post-professional degree program in architecture was launched in 2009. Concentrations in one or a combination of three areas are offered: theory, history and criticism of architecture, urban studies and technologies.
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences provides the academic thread that binds the three schools into a tightly integrated whole. The Cooper Union is committed to the principle that an education in the liberal arts provides the ethical, social and humanistic framework crucial to personal development and professional excellence; thus, all students in the first two years take a core curriculum of required courses in the humanities and social sciences. These courses are not segregated by member school or academic major, and provide a formal opportunity for students in each of the three Schools to interact in an interdisciplinary environment. Students in the School of Art take an additional three-semester sequence in art history. During the third and fourth years, students have considerable latitude to explore the humanities and social sciences through elective courses. The Center for Writing works with all students throughout their time at The Cooper Union, providing both tutoring for Humanities courses and assistance with other writing-related tasks (such as technical documentation of research projects and the production of
résumé
A résumé, sometimes spelled resume (or alternatively resumé), also called a curriculum vitae (CV), is a document created and used by a person to present their background, skills, and accomplishments. Résumés can be used for a variety of rea ...
s.)
Athletics
Cooper Union has developed an athletic program which fields teams in basketball, volleyball, and soccer.
Notable alumni
Awards received by Cooper Union alumni include one
Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
, a
Pritzker Prize, fifteen
Rome Prizes, 26
Guggenheim Fellowships, three
MacArthur Fellowships, nine
Chrysler Design Award The Chrysler Design Awards celebrate the achievements of individuals in innovative works of architecture and design which significantly influenced modern American culture.
Chrysler's awards started in 1993 to recognize six designers based in the Un ...
s, three Emmy Awards, one Tony, one Grammy, one
Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering
The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, also known as the QEPrize, is a global prize for engineering and innovation. The prize was launched in 2012 by a cross-party group consisting of David Cameron, Nick Clegg, and Ed Miliband, then Prime ...
, and three
Thomas Jefferson Awards for Public Architecture, which is sponsored by the
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to s ...
. The school also boasts 39
Fulbright Scholars since 2001, and thirteen
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships since 2004.
Notable faculty
Notable faculty of the Cooper Union include:
*
Raimund Abraham, architect
*
Diana Agrest, architect
*
William Arnold Anthony
William Arnold Anthony (November 17, 1835 – May 29, 1908) was a U.S. physicist.
Biography
Anthony was born in Coventry, Rhode Island. He was educated at the Yale Scientific School (today Sheffield Scientific School) and graduated in 1860. Betwe ...
, physicist
*
George Herman Babcock
George Herman Babcock (June 17, 1832 – December 16, 1893) was an American inventor. He and Stephen Wilcox co-invented a safer water tube steam boiler, and founded the Babcock & Wilcox boiler company.
Biography
Babock was born in Unadill ...
, inventor
*
Eleanor K. Baum, electrical engineer
*
Mary Blade, mechanical engineer
*
John Christopher Draper, chemist and surgeon
*
Thomas Eakins, painter
*
Peter Eisenman
Peter Eisenman (born August 11, 1932) is an American architect. Considered one of the New York Five, Eisenman is known for his writing and speaking about architecture as well as his designs, which have been called high modernist or deconstructiv ...
, architect
*
William Germano, editor
*
Charles Gwathmey, architect
*
Hans Haacke, artist
*
Jonas Mekas, filmmaker
*
Margaret Morton
Margaret Morton MBE (born 29 January 1968) is a Scottish curler and Olympic champion. She received a gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City , photographer and artist
*
Aldo Rossi, architect
*
Ricardo Scofidio, architect
*
Ysrael Seinuk
Ysrael Abraham Seinuk (December 21, 1931 – September 14, 2010) was an engineer who designed the structure for many landmark skyscrapers in New York and around the world. He also taught structural engineering at New York's Cooper Union and wa ...
, structural engineer
*
David Shapiro, poet
*
Nina Tandon, biomedical engineer
*
William Wiswesser, chemist; inventor of
Wiswesser line notation
*
Lebbeus Woods, architect
*
John Celivergos Zachos, physician, inventor and literary scholar
In popular culture
Film
* In
Susan Skoog's coming-of-age
independent film
An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...
''
Whatever'' (1998), precocious suburban teen Anna Stockard (
Liza Weil) harbors dreams of moving to the city to study art at the Cooper Union in the early 80s.
* The Cooper Union and its student dorms were featured as background in ''
The Interpreter'' (2005).
* ''
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby'' features the New Academic Building.
* ''
Winter's Tale'' (2014) was filmed at Cooper's foundation building to fit the novel's early 1900 setting.
Literature
* The Cooper Union acts as a symbol of
Progressivism
Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, tech ...
in the
Pulitzer Prize-winning novel ''
His Family'' (1917) by
Ernest Poole, as well as in the novel ''From Immigrant to Inventor'' (1924) by
Michael Pupin
Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin ( sr-Cyrl, Михајло Идворски Пупин, ; 4 October 1858Although Pupin's birth year is sometimes given as 1854 (and Serbia and Montenegro issued a postage stamp in 2004 to commemorate the 150th anniversary o ...
.
* Cooper Union is the meeting place of two main characters in ''The Gilded Hour'' (2015), a historical novel by
Sara Donati. The characters first encounter one another at Abraham Lincoln's 1860 speech at Cooper Union.
Television
*The "New Academic Building" designed by
Thom Mayne was frequently shown in episodes of the television series ''
Instinct'', wherein it was depicted as the NYC 11th police precinct in which its main characters were based.
See also
*
Presidents of Cooper Union
The president of Cooper Union is the chief administrator of Cooper Union.
History
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art was founded in 1859 by industrialist, inventor and philanthropist Peter Cooper. From its inception, the co ...
*
Association of Independent Technological Universities The Association of Independent Technological Universities (AITU) is a group of private American engineering colleges established in 1957. The purpose of the association is to share ideas and practices that promote innovation and entrepreneurship, p ...
References
External links
*
Information about Cooper Union and the Foundation Building from The Cooper Union Library and Archives*
ttp://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1861/march/the-cooper-union.htm Original 1861 Harper's Weekly Story on the Cooper Union*
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