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Cooper Union

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The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
TypePrivate
Established1859
Endowment$600 million
PresidentGeorge Campbell Jr.
Students918
Location
United States New York
,
NY
CampusUrban
ColorsMaroon and Gold
NicknameThe Cooper Union, Cooper
Website[2]

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (commonly referred to simply as The Cooper Union) is a privately-funded college in Downtown Manhattan, New York City. The Cooper Union is located in the East Village, around Cooper Square and Astor Place (Third Avenue & 6th-9th Streets). The school offers accredited degree programs in architecture, fine arts, and engineering and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD), a consortium of thirty-six leading art schools in the United States. Cooper is considered to be one of the best fine arts schools in the nation.

The Cooper Union is one of the few American institutions of higher learning to offer a full-tuition scholarship (valued at $120,000 as of 2008) to every admitted student. As a result, The Cooper Union is one of the most selective colleges in the United States, with an acceptance rate of 10% (although both the art and architecture schools have acceptance rates lower than 5%.)[1] The school experienced a 20% increase in applications for the 2008-2009 academic year, further lowering this number. [2]

A substantial portion of the annual budget, which supports the full-tuition scholarships in addition to the school's costs, is generated through donations from alumni in both the public and the private sector. In addition to this, Real Estate has become a very important asset to the College and has drastically increased its endowment to over $600 million[3].

Founding and early history

The Cooper Union
Peter Cooper, the founder
LocationCooper Square, 7th Street and 4th Avenue, New York, NY
Built1858
ArchitectF.A. Peterson
Architectural styleItalianate
NRHP reference No.66000540
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966[4]

The Cooper Union was founded in 1859 by American industrialist Peter Cooper, who was a prolific inventor and a successful entrepreneur. Peter Cooper was a workingman's son who had less than a year of formal schooling. Yet he went on to become an industrialist and an inventor; it was Peter Cooper who designed and built America's first steam railroad engine. Cooper made his fortune with a glue factory and an iron foundry. Later, he turned his entrepreneurial skills to successful ventures in real estate, insurance, railroads and telegraphy. He even once ran for President.

In the late 1850s, when Cooper was a principal investor and first president of the New York, Newfoundland & London Telegraph Co., the firm undertook one of the 19th century's monumental technical enterprises—laying the first Atlantic cable. Cooper also invented instant gelatin, with help from his wife, Sarah, who added fruit to what the world would come to know as Jell-O.

Originally intended to be called 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 for women on the subjects of photography, telegraphy, typewriting and shorthand (in what was called the College's Female School of Design). Discrimination based on race, religion, or sex was expressly prohibited.

Early board members included Horace Greeley and William Cullen Bryant.

Those free classes—a landmark in American history and the prototype for what is now called continuing education—have evolved into three distinguished schools that make up The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art: the School of Art, the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture and the Albert Nerken School of Engineering.

Peter Cooper's dream was to give talented young people the one privilege he lacked—a good education. He also wanted to make possible the development of talent that otherwise would have gone undiscovered. His dream—providing an education "equal to the best"—has come true. Since 1859, the Cooper Union has educated thousands of artists, architects and engineers, many of them leaders in their fields.[6]

Photo of Abraham Lincoln taken February 27, 1860 in New York City by Mathew Brady, the day of his famous Cooper Union speech.

Important speeches

On February 27, 1860, the school's Great Hall became the site of a historic address by Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln's dramatic speech opposed Stephen A. Douglas on the question of federal power to regulate and limit the spread of slavery to the federal territories and new States. 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. It is now referred to as the Cooper Union Address. Cooper Union's Great Hall was also the site of the school's inauguration whose primary address was given by Mark Twain.

Since then, the Great Hall has served as a platform for many historic addresses by American Presidents Grant, Cleveland, Taft, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and, most recently, Bill Clinton.

Clinton spoke on May 12, 1993 about reducing the federal deficit and 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, Norman Mailer, and others, at the memorial service for historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

The Great Hall continues to serve as an important metropolitan art space, hosting lectures and performances by key figures such as Joseph Campbell, Steve Reich, Salman Rushdie, Ralph Nader, Hamza Yusuf, Richard Stallman, Rudolph Giuliani, Pema Chodron, Mike Bloomberg, Evo Morales and Hugo Chávez.

Barack Obama delivered an economic policy speech at Cooper Union on March 27, 2008.

Modern changes

The Cooper Union evolved over time into its current form of a college with three schools in architecture, art, and engineering. Despite the changes, the education is still tuition-free.

The Great Hall

The building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961.[5][7][8]

A new facility designed by Thom Mayne (Morphosis) and Gruzen Samton will provide new Art Studios and Engineering Labs, replacing an aged Hewitt Building on Cooper Square. The new Academic Building at the Cooper Union occupies an unusually unencumbered site whose four free facades rise from a glass-framed lobby. Entered from the north-west corner, the lobby extends the exterior surface to the inside to become a mezzanine overlooking the gallery on the floor below.

From the entry lobby the ground plane moves on to the central atrium, a “vertical campus,” that rises to the full height of the building. This open connective space, spanned at various levels by sky bridges, ensures interaction throughout the building while opening up view corridors across Third Avenue to the Foundation Building. The atrium also contributes to the building’s high degree of physical and visual permeability, which helps integrate it into the college’s neighborhood.

The School of Art

The School of Art draws on the creative energy of the East Village to produce some of the most distinguished artists in the world today. The Cooper Union is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD), a consortium of thirty-six leading art schools in the United States. Students spend most of the time in studio courses equipped with state-of-the-art facilities. Notable alumni of the Cooper Union School of Art include illustrator/designer Seymour Chwast, designer Milton Glaser, designer Herb Lubalin, designer J. Abbott Miller, designer Lou Dorfsman, writer/educator Ellen Lupton, designer Paul Carlos, designer Tom Kluepfel, designer Stephen Doyle, artist Eva Hesse, and artist/printmaker Alex Katz. Internationally-known faculty have included alumni such as conceptual artist Hans Haacke. Also, famous art teacher John Bednarczyk, graduated from the School of Art.

Admissions

Apart from being the most selective undergraduate art program in the country, the School of Art is infamous for its "Hometest". This conceptually focused section of the application is comprised of 6 prompts for visual pieces, as well as 10 short writing prompts. Performance in this intensive process, which is to be completed in a period of four weeks, plays a large role in the selection process.

Curriculum

The School of Art offers a four-year program leading to the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Unlike most art schools, Cooper Union does not require students to declare a major; instead they encourage a generalist approach and curriculum, encompassing all of the fundamental disciplines and resources of the visual arts as well as Art History and General Studies components. After their foundation year, students are allowed to choose classes from any of the art departments, facilitating a flexible and personal curriculum.

Renowned curator Saskia Bos was appointed Dean of the School of Art in 2005.

Computer Studio

The School of Art's Computer Studio is a state-of-the-art computing facility that provides classroom and lab space for students and faculty to produce and present digital work. It features 40 Macintosh workstations for student use, along with many high-end input and output devices for archival, large format printing, film printing, video production, and audio production. The studio also provides services which include loaning equipment (such as digital still and video cameras, audio capture devices, and presentation devices), hardware and software services for the entire School, and a friendly help desk service to facilitate the needs of students, faculty and staff.[9]

The School of Architecture

The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at The Cooper Union offers a five-year program leading to a Bachelor of Architecture degree. The school ranks among the top five architecture programs in the United States.[10] The philosophical foundation of the school is committed to the complex symbiotic relationships of education, research, theory, and practice.

The five-year Design sequence is structured to integrate the elements of architecture: investigation of program, construction, structure, and form/space. The Design sequence is intended to generate effective, forceful and spirited architecture.

With over 8,000 square feet of studio space, each student has his or her own drafting and work area. The studio functions as a classroom in which instruction occurs, as a laboratory in which projects are conceived and developed, and as a base of operations. Classroom facilities include a lecture hall, seminar room, and ample presentation space. There is also a computer lab available for student use on the seventh floor.

The faculty includes many influential practicing architects and theorists (Diana Agrest, Diane Lewis, and Lebbeus Woods). Well-known graduates of the school include Shigeru Ban, Daniel Libeskind, Karen Bausman, Elizabeth Diller, and Toshiko Mori. The current dean is Anthony Vidler.

M. Arch II

The Cooper Union introduced the new, M.Arch II program for the 2008-2009 academic year[11]. The program will be limited to a total of 8 students, and offer 3 concentrations: Theory, History, and Criticism of Architecture, Urban Studies, and Technologies[12].

The School of Engineering

The Albert Nerken School of Engineering has about 550 students. It is one of the most prestigious non-doctoral engineering schools in the nation.[13]The school offers ABET accredited Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) programs in Chemical Engineering (ChE), Civil Engineering (CE), Electrical Engineering (EE), and Mechanical Engineering (ME); a Middle States accredited Bachelor of Science (B.S.) program in engineering (BSE); and a Master of Engineering (M.E.) program.

Until the class of 2006, students chose to major in one of the four traditional disciplines (ChE, CE, EE, and ME), or customize their education by opting for the BSE degree that has fewer requisite courses and greater opportunity for elective courses.

New curricula take effect beginning with the class of 2007. Under the currently published Course Catalog, students can still choose to pursue the traditional ChE, CE, EE, and ME degree programs, but greater flexibility in course selection is being planned for the four degree programs. In addition, there are proposals to offer students choices of "concentrations" (possibilities include Nanotechnology and Bio-engineering) that will offer groups of courses in more specific fields than the four traditional disciplines. The details of the new curricula are work in progress and therefore subject to change.

The Master of Engineering program offers an opportunity for Cooper Union undergraduate students to obtain a master's degree in one of the four disciplines while conducting research at the school. The requirements for the Master's Degree are a 30-credit course of study including a 12 credit major and a 12 credit minor. At least 6 credits of thesis study are required. Candidates for this degree are also required to conduct an oral defense of their thesis which is organized by the student's department.

Unlike many schools, there is no option for "general studies" at the Cooper Union, even in the first year. All applicants must declare their major on their application, enrolling themselves in a particular department (or the IDE program) before they arrive. Once at Cooper, switching majors within the Nerken school is allowed, but a cumulative GPA of 3.0 is required. Most department-specific courses do not begin until the latter half of the second year, meaning switching majors until that point is very feasible from a curricular standpoint. However, given the intense and competitive nature of the first two years (often resulting in low GPAs), in practice switching majors can be extremely difficult.

Curriculum

All bachelor's programs offered by the School of engineering require a minimum of 135 credits for graduation, including completion of a 55-credit core program in general engineering and science classes (regardless of specialty) and a minimum of 24 credits in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. [3]

Chemical Engineering

The Chemical Engineering program at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art provides a thorough overview of the chemistry, mathematics, and engineering thinking necessary for a practicing Chemical Engineer. The Chemical Engineering student will take two year-round chemistry courses: organic chemistry and physical chemistry. In addition, the student will take the core principles of physical chemistry (Thermodynamics) and general chemistry with its laboratory class. In addition, many engineering classes will be taken, such as a year round course on chemical engineering thermodynamics as well as heat transfer, mass transfer, and fluid mechanics. Additionally, courses that reinforce the mathematical skills are taught as well as laboratory classes. The following is a breakdown of the required courses for the Chemical Engineering degree, which will follow suit with the breakdown given in the other majors:

  • Mathematics - 17 credits (6 courses, CORE)
  • Chemistry - 21.5 credits (7.5 core, 7 organic chemistry, 5 physical chemistry, 2 instrumental analysis)
  • Chemical Engineering - 40 credits (Heat, Mass, Fluids, Chem Reaction Eng, Math Methods, Control Theory, Materials Science, etc)
  • Physics - 12.5 credits (CORE)
  • Humanities and Social Sciences - 20-24 credits
  • Engineering and Engineering electives - 20-24 credits
Total of 135 credits

The chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering is Professor Irving Brazinsky. Also working within the Chemical Engineering Department are Professors Richard Stock, the late Zikri Ahmed, and O. Charles Okorafor. Additionally, the Chemical Engineering Department works closely with the Chemistry Department, which includes Professor John Bové (Chair), Professor Andrea Newmark, and Professor Ruben Savizky.

In addition to the major, chemical engineering students have the option to obtain one of four minors: biomedical engineering, environmental engineering, applied chemical technology, or energy engineering. In order to obtain a minor the student must enroll in four classes in his/her discipline of choice.

Students work closely with faculty and acquire basic research and design skills in the first two years of their education. In the sophomore year, students are to separate and identify two unknown organic chemicals in an independent fashion. In the junior year, the students are to design an experiment, carry it out, and present its results to their peers as well as the faculty of the chemistry department; this research project is conducted as part of the instrumental analysis laboratory. In the senior year, the year-long multi faculty 9-credit senior project is carried out - a true pinnacle of the chemical engineering education.

Civil Engineering

Civil Engineering is the oldest degree granting engineering program at Cooper Union. The department maintains small class and laboratory enrollment to provide for personal attention. Approximately 20 students are admitted by the department in the undergraduate program each year. The department also offers a master's degree.

Civil Engineering graduates are recruited regularly by companies nationwide. Alumni are found in the top management and research leadership of many American corporations; hold key positions in federal, state and city agencies and distinguish themselves on university faculties and administrations nationwide. Through their many and varied professional accomplishments, alumni have earned for the department and the school their reputation for excellence.

Electrical Engineering

The full-time Electrical Engineering faculty includes the following professors:

The curriculum before the class of 2007 requires 135 credits for graduation and has the following breakdown of credits:

Required courses:

  • Math: 20 credits
  • Chemistry: 7.5 credits
  • Physics: 13.5 credits
  • Engineering, Interdisciplinary: 8 credits
  • Electrical Engineering: 51.5 credits
  • Humanities/Social Sciences: 12 credits

Elective courses:

  • Engineering/Science: 10.5 credits
  • Humanities/Social Sciences: 6 credits or 12 credits depending on track

In the required undergraduate electrical engineering courses, electrical engineering students learn about the fundamental concepts of digital logic, circuit theory, electronics, digital signal processing, computer architecture, control systems, communication theory, electromagnetics, integrated circuits, and electromechanical energy conversion. Juniors are guided through a series of lab experiments and assigned projects. Seniors propose their own projects and many of them participate in inter-collegiate contests.

In the new tentative curriculum proposed for the class of 2007 and beyond, three tracks of specialization are offered: Computer Engineering, Signal Processing & Communications, and Electronic Systems & Materials Engineering. The tracks offer different selections of advanced courses for specialization, while sharing the same "foundation courses".

Mechanical Engineering

Like the other named majors, the curriculum of the Mechanical Engineering Department requires 135 credits for graduation. The current Department Chair, Professor Chih-Shing (Stan) Wei, has overseen a sizeable expansion in the past two years, which has included the hiring of two new professors, Drs. Delagrammatikas and Gan (the latter having recently been replaced by Dr. Baglione). The tenure-track (non-adjunct) roster of the "MechE" department now includes the following[14]:

  • Dr. Melody Baglione, Assistant Professor
  • Dr. George Delagrammatikas, Assistant Professor
  • Dr. George Sidebotham, Professor
  • Dr. Chih-Shing (Stan) Wei, Professor and Chair
  • Dr. David M. Wootton, Associate Professor

There are several important adjunct faculty serving the Mechanical Engineering Department, including Dr. James Abbott, Director of the Acoustic Laboratory, and Mr. Robert Dell [4], Director of the Laboratory for Energy Reclamation and Innovation.

Recent curriculum changes include the addition of several upper-level electives covering topics such as Advanced Engine Concepts, Heat Exchanger Dynamics, Micro-Elecro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), Autonomous Mobile Robots, and others. This has coincided with a reinforcement of the traditional curriculum, especially areas such as thermodynamics and instrumentation labs. Other sections of traditional curriculum include control systems, mechanics (beams, etc.), materials science, and a few other areas.

Other

Curriculum development was supported by a planning grant from the National Science Foundation and directed by Dean Simon Ben-Avi. The new multi-disciplinary B.E. degree has a freshman and sophomore class already. (2004-2005). First graduation is expected in 2007.

Eleanor Baum is Dean of the Albert Nerken School of Engineering. She is the first woman to be named as dean of an engineering college or university and is an Electrical Engineer. Dean Baum was recently named to the National Women's Hall of Fame [5]

Facilities

Chemical Engineering and Chemistry

Electrical Engineering

  • S*PROCOM² (Signal PROcessing, COMmunications and COMputer Engineering Research Center)
  • Micro EE Lab (μLab): equipment for Computer Architecture, such as programmers for microcontrollers and programmable logic devices
  • Integrated Circuit Engineering Lab (ICE Lab): workstations and software (HSPICE, Cadence, Verilog, ADS) for designing integrated circuits and microwave circuits
  • Junior EE Lab: equipment and workbenches with oscilloscopes, multimeters, power sources, etc.
  • Senior EE Lab: workbenches with uncertain collections of equipment used by the senior projects that are in progress
  • Multimedia and Microprocessor Lab
  • Wireless Communications Lab
  • Imaging Systems Lab
  • Electronic Materials Lab

Mechanical Engineering

  • The Forrest Wade Rapid Prototyping Laboratory: includes large CAD/CAM setup, fused deposition modeling (FDM) rapid prototyper, 3-D digitizing equipment
  • Special Materials Lab: materials testing equipment, i.e. Rockwell and Sharpy hardness testers, tensile and compression testing equipment, equipment for making carbon composite materials
  • Acoustics Laboratory (featuring the only anechoic chamber in NYC)
  • Combustion Laboratory (current research includes testing of flammability of operating room materials)
  • Brooks Engineering Design Center: features computer consoles with graphics and rendering software as well a color printer, etc.
  • Laboratory for Energy Reclamation and Innovation - specializes in micro-green energy solutions

Civil Engineering

  • Materials & Structures lab
  • Soil Mechanics lab
  • Hydraulics lab
  • Environmental Research lab
  • Asphalt (SUPERPAVE) lab
  • Biomechanics lab

Notable alumni

With less than 1,000 students, Alumni of the Cooper Union win a vastly disproportionate share of the nation's most prestigious awards. Recent Awards include 10 Rome Prizes, 18 Guggenheim fellowships, 3 MacArthur fellowships, 9 Chrysler Design awards, and 3 American Institute of Architects Thomas Jefferson Awards for Public Architecture. The school also boasts more than 23 Fulbright scholars since 2001, and 10 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships since 2004[16].

The Cooper Union Alumni Council presents three awards annually to notable alumni: the Augustus Saint Gaudens Award for professional achievement in art, the Gano Dunn Award for professional achievement in engineering, industry, or finance, and the John Q. Hejduk Award for architecture alumni who have made an outstanding contribution to the theory, teaching and/or practice of architecture. Other awards presented by the Alumni Council are the Alumnus of the Year and the Young Alumnus of the Year Awards.

Notable alumni of the Cooper Union include:


In Pop Culture

  • The Cooper Union acts as a symbol of Progressivism in the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel His Family by Ernest Poole.
  • In Susan Skoog's coming-of-age independent film Whatever, 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.[20]
  • The Cooper Union is mentioned in a spoken word performance of Bowery Blues read by Jack Kerouac and with piano by Steve Allen.
  • The Cooper Union and their student dorms were featured as background in "The Interpreter" starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn. The school is also frequently seen in episodes of "Law and Order: SVU", as well as "Law and Order: CI".
  • The Cooper Union makes an appearance in the Norwegian childrens' television program "Lillys Butikk" as the school of the lead character's son John, in his video-letter home
  • Appeared in an episode of "The Office"

References

  1. ^ America's Best Colleges 2008: LOWEST ACCEPTANCE RATES
  2. ^ The Cooper Union Awards $33 million in Full Tuition Scholarships
  3. ^ Smart Land Deals as a Cornerstone for Free Tuition
  4. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-01-23.
  5. ^ a b "Cooper Union". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. 2007-09-11.
  6. ^ The Cooper Union: History, accessed November 14, 2006
  7. ^ [[[:Template:PDFlink]] "National Register of Historic Places Inventory"]. National Park Service. 1975-08-08. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  8. ^ [[[:Template:PDFlink]] "National Register of Historic Places Inventory"]. National Park Service. 1975-08-08. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  9. ^ http://www.cooper.edu/art/computer.html
  10. ^ The USA Best Architecture Schools 2007
  11. ^ New MArch II at Cooper Union
  12. ^ http://archweb.cooper.edu/deg_marchII.html
  13. ^ Rankings, U.S. News & World Report, accessed November 14, 2006
  14. ^ Cooper Union '07-'08 Course Catalog, Engineering Section. "Faculty"
  15. ^ Cooper Union Dept of Chemical Engineering. "Chemical Engineering Laboratory"
  16. ^ [1] [Alumni Fact Sheet (PDF)]
  17. ^ Russell A. Hulse: The Nobel Prize in Physics 1993
  18. ^ Thomas Edison, Chemistry and Cooper Union, accessed October 16, 2006
  19. ^ About the Cooper Union: History, accessed October 16, 2006
  20. ^ Whatever, The New York Times, capsule review
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