Rita Nealon Cooley (often published as Rita W. Cooley; died October 1, 2006) was an American
political scientist
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
. She was a professor of political science at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, ...
, and was chair of the Department of Politics there in 1975. She was the first woman to teach, have tenure, be full professor, or be department chair in the Department of Politics at NYU. Cooley's research largely focused on the history of the American judiciary, and on social science pedagogy.
Life and career
Cooley was born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
in 1919.
She attended
Hunter College
Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also adm ...
, where she was a member of
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
and graduated in 1940.
[ In 1943 she began to study at New York University, where she obtained an M.A. in 1946 and a PhD in 1949.][ She continued teaching classes at New York University after completing her degree, and remained there for the rest of her 42-year-long career.][ When Cooley began teaching in that department, she was the only woman teaching there,] and she was also the first woman to become a full professor or receive tenure in the Department of Politics at New York University.[ She served a term as chair of the politics department beginning in 1975, and was also the first woman to do so.][ While a professor at New York University, she taught more than 30,000 students,][ and she won 7 university-wide teaching awards: she was selected by undergraduates to win seven Golden Dozen awards, which recognize the student body's 12 favorite professors, as well as the 1967 Great Teacher Award.]
Cooley's scholarship largely focused on American judicial politics, as well as on pedagogy and teaching social science in universities. In 1950, she co-authored the textbook ''Government in American Society''.[ She also wrote on legal history in the United States, for example on the origin of attorneys general in America] or the United States Marshals Service
The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a Government agency, bureau within the United States Department of Justice, U.S. Depa ...
.
Cooley's husband was Hollis R. Cooley, who was a professor of mathematics at New York University.[ Rita Cooley retired in 1986.][ Upon her retirement, the Department of Politics at New York University named a seminar room for her, and an award was endowed in her honor.][ She died on October 1, 2006.][
]
Selected works
*''Government in American Society'' (1950)[
*"Predecessors of the Federal Attorney General: The Attorney General in England and the American Colonies", ''The American journal of legal history'' (1958)][
*"Teaching Note: The Effect of the Introductory Political Science Course on Student Attitudes Toward Personal Political Participation", ''The American Political Science Review'' (1958)
*"The Office of United States Marshal", ''Western Political Quarterly'' (1959)][
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooley, Rita Nealon
Date of birth unknown
2006 deaths
20th-century American women writers
American women political scientists
American political scientists
Academics from New York (state)
Hunter College alumni
New York University alumni
New York University faculty
American women academics
21st-century American women