Thom Mayne, the architect of Cooper Union's new academic building, has just won architecture's most prestigious honor, the Pritzker Prize. Mayne is the first American architect to win in 14 years and only the eighth U.S. architect to win in the 27-year history of the Prize. (Read The New York Times article or visit the Pritzker Architecture Prize Web site).

Phonathon 2005 – From March 14-21, over 100 committed alumni, parents and students volunteered to help make this year's Phonathon the most successful in years! Volunteers raised Aa total of $330,850 for the Annual Fund, which provides vital support for Cooper's ongoing operations. A very special thanks to John Huddy, AR'85 for generously matching the first $25,000 raised on March 15.

The Cooper Union, in collaboration with the Center for Architecture, recently hosted two workshops inviting community members and design professionals to re-envision Peter Cooper Park, with the intention of emerging with concepts and ideas that could inform any potential redevelopment of the public space by the City of New York. These workshops were made possible by financial support from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Visit Cooper in the Community for the brochure and summary report.

Humanities and Social Sciences Dean Search: Two finalists have been identified by the Search Committee for the Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences at The Cooper Union. They are:

• Dr. H. N. Hirsch is currently the G. Theodore Mitau Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Macalester College and Adjunct Professor of Political Science and American Studies at the University of Minnesota. With a national reputation as a scholar of constitutional law, Dr. Hirsch has focused on questions pertaining to minorities, society, and the legal system. Dr. Hirsch served for 15 years as the Chair of the Political Science Department at the University of California, San Diego. At Macalester College, Dr. Hirsch has been a leader of initiatives in liberal arts education. 

• Dr. Jeffrey Peck is a Professor in the Program of Communication, Culture, and Technology at Georgetown University. Known for his highly interdisciplinary work on national and minority identities, Dr. Peck also has wide-ranging experience in administering transatlantic studies, with particular interest in media, technology, and society. His administrative experience is marked by curricular innovation at various levels, from undergraduate foundation courses to Masters programs. Dr. Peck is also a Senior Fellow in Residence at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies in Washington, D.C.

As part of the Dean Search Process, each candidate is asked to deliver a public lecture to the Cooper Union Community. The lectures have been scheduled and your attendance is strongly encouraged:

• APRIL 5 (12:30-2:00 PM), Driscoll Room in the Engineering Building. Lecture by Professor H. N. Hirsch, "The Politics of Exile" 

• APRIL 12 (12:30-2:00 PM) Driscoll Room in the Engineering Building. Lecture by Professor Jeffrey Peck,  "Interdisciplinarity: On Boundaries and Fields of Knowledge in Undergraduate Education."

School of Art Deans Search: The Search Committee for Dean of the School of Art has completed its first round of interviews. In the coming weeks the Committee plans to send its list of finalists to the President for consideration.

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Congratulations

Awards

• The Saturday Outreach Program was selected for a Coming Up Taller Award, the nation's highest honor for after-school and out-of-school programs that use arts and humanities to enrich the lives of children. The program is administered through the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, The National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The award includes a grant of $10,000. Leslie Hewitt (A’00), Charles Fambro and Nickola Pottinger (A’09) accepted the award for Cooper Union from Laura Bush in December at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

• The Architecture League named Jennifer Lee (AR’97), John Hartmann (AR’00), and Martin Finio (AR’88) as "Emerging Voices" for 2005. For more information visit www.archleague.org/emerging.php.

• Alexander Gorlin (AR’78) and Toshiko Mori (AR’76) were recently elected to the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows.

• Shigeru Ban (AR’85) will receive the 40^th annual Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture as part of the University of Virginia’s Founder’s Day events.

• Professor Atina Grossman has been promoted to full professor in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

• Cooper Union alumna and Prof. Anna Conway (A’97) in the School of Art received a 2005 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. The Foundation’s mission is to give aid internationally to individuals who have worked as professional artists over a significant period of time.

• Prof. Maren Stange in American Studies was recently invited to be a Short Term Visiting Fellow at the Anacostia Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., where she conducted research on the photographer Gordon Parks. She was also the Donald W. Gallup Fellow in American Literature at the Beinecke Library, Yale University, in January 2005, researching Richard Wright and photography.

Publications

• Prof. Gerardo del Cerro and Director of Assessment at The Cooper Union, Emeritus Professor Jean LeMee in the Albert Nerken School of Engineering, and German journalist Volker Stutzer have completed Hymns from the Rig-Veda, a selection from the vedas in India. The book is a multilingual edition in English, French, German and Spanish.

• Prof. J. Hoberman in Cinema Studies, reviewed a program by avant-garde filmmaker Ernie Gehr in the February 2005 issue of Artforum. His essay on Jean-Luc Godard’s Tout va bien appears in the Criterion Collection. In the upcoming issue of The Nation, he reviews Paul Buhle’s book From the Lower East Side to Hollywood. He also has an article on John Cassavetes’ TV show Johnny Staccato in the upcoming March-April issue of Film Comment.

IMPORTANT recognition

• Jack Gould/Society of 1859 Reception - On Thursday, March 10, President George Campbell and CUAA President Carl Selinger hosted a reception honoring members of The Society of 1859 and their generous support of The Cooper Union. Jack Gould (ME’27), at 99, Cooper Union’s oldest active alumnus – still a member of the Constitution Committee and one of the founders of the united Cooper Union Alumni Association, was honored for his long-standing commitment and support of the college.

• Prof. Atina Grossmann, in History, published "‘The Survivors were few and the dead were many’: Jewish Identity and Memory in Occupied Berlin," in Marion Kaplan and Beate Meyer, eds. Juedische Welten: Juden in Deutschland vom 18 Jahrhundert bis in die Gegenwart (Goettingen: Wallstein, 2005). She was Chair for the Sybil Milton Prize Committee for best book in Holocaust Studies for 2003-2004, German Studies Association.

• Noah Lyon (A'02) recently returned to NYC from Sweden where he was exhibiting work in a show curated by Thomas Wallner. He showed an installation in Pittsburgh at TRAF Gallery with Paper Rad. In the last month, he has exhibited work in New York City at Deitch Projects, Printed Matter Inc. and the New Museum of Contemporary Art in Chelsea. He recently released #12 of his self-published mini-book Retard Riot.

• Amy Cutler (A’97) spoke about her work at the Museum of Modern Art in the Conversations with Contemporary Artists series on March 18.

• Students Matthew Lutz-Kinoy (A’06) and James Leary (A’04) both had work featured in DiVA, the first art fair dedicated to Video and Digital Art in the United States, which was held in New York from March 11 to 13.

• Kim Krans (A’02) had her first New York solo exhibition at DCKT Contemporary titled …but whatever it was come out of the trees from January 20 to February 26.

• Student Assia Lakhlif (A’05) had her film Weapons of Destruction featured in Cinema East presented by NYU’s Department of Middle Eastern Studies. For more information visit www.arteeast.org.

• Architecture student, Yeon Wha Hong, has received a Fulbright Fellowship to study in Japan this Fall.

• Architecture student, Raha Talebi has been accepted to Princeton School of Architecture and Harvard's Graduate School of Design.

• Art student Kiel Scott has won the Senior Speech Contest and will be the student speaker at the 146^th Commencement.

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Welcome

• New York Times Columnist Frank Rich will deliver the keynote address and receive an honorary doctorate at The Cooper Union’s 146^th Commencement on Wednesday, May 25. Cited as a man of many words who doesn't mince them, Frank Rich engages and challenges readers with his thought provoking New York Times columns, and political and cultural essays. Recently named senior adviser to the culture editor and Op-Ed columnist, Mr. Rich’s writings are featured in the "Week in Review" section, where he serves as a cultural barometer examining and interpreting current events and pop culture. Previously Associate Editor of The New York Times, Mr. Rich wrote a weekly column for Sunday’s "Arts & Leisure" section and repeatedly set milestones in the world of critical journalism. His career at The Times spans more than two decades, beginning as chief drama critic and later crossing over to political commentary.

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Don't Miss

General Interest

• Student Culture Show - Melding Cooper Union's diverse student body into one night of dance, food and fun, CU's South Asian Society presents the Culture Show 2005. On Saturday, April 2, the festivities begin at 6:30 pm in the Great Hall, where a range of traditional and modern dances originating in India and Japan will be performed along with the talented Piano Club, CU Step Team and Hip Hop Club, to name a few.

• Founders Day Dinner Dance –On Friday, April 8 the CUAA will celebrate Peter Cooper’s 214^th Birthday and will honor several alumni for their professional achievements: Augustus Saint Gaudens Awardees Lois Dodd (A'48), Martin Charnin (A'55), Alfred Blaustein (A'47), John Hejduk Awardee Diane Lewis (AR'76), Gano Dunn Awardee Dr. Kenneth Bridbord (ChE'64), Alumnus of the Year Awardee William Sandholm (CE'63) and Honorary Alumnus of the Year Awardee and former Chairman of the Cooper Union Board of Trustees, Robert Bernhard. Tribeca Rooftop, 2 Desbrosses Street, 7pm-midnight, attire – downtown chic.

• President's Roundtable Discussion Series: Hosted by President Campbell, the President's Roundtable Discussion Series consists of informal gatherings of 8-10 students who have the opportunity to interact with CEO's and prominent leaders in the areas of interest to Cooper Union. The next speaker will be Cooper Union Trustee, Jason Wright, Senior Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs at Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. To sign up, please contact the students Ad Chairs from your school.

• Golden Legion Celebration – May 6-7 will be the Golden Legion Celebration Weekend, honoring the class of 1955 and all prior graduates. Friday May 6 will be dedicated to the class of 1955, and Saturday May 7 will feature lectures, an estate planning lunch, an urban history and architecture tour of neighborhoods around Cooper Union and a cocktail reception for all Golden Legion alumni.

• On April 13, the student chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers will hold a meeting in Wollman Lounge from 5-9pm. For more information contact Jason Ulku ulku@cooper.edu.

• April 14 is the Engineering School's Open House from 5-10pm. This is for applicants who have been accepted to Cooper Union. Students will assemble in the Great Hall for presentations by faculty and staff. This will be followed by a tour of the Engineering Building and brief reception in Wollman Lounge.

• On April 19 from 12- 2pm the Albert Nerken School of Engineering will host The Order of the Engineer ceremony to induct engineering seniors into the society.

• On April 27 The Summer Engineering Research Internship Program will hold its Open House from 10am-12pm in The Great Hall. Parents and high school students who have been accepted into the 2005 summer program will attend.

Exhibitions

• Come to the School of Art Student Shows. Opening Receptions are on Tuesday evenings from 6-8 pm unless announced otherwise. Please contact artschool@cooper.edu for more information.

• Four School of Art faculty members and eleven recent alumni have work featured in the prestigious Greater New York 2005, at P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, running now through September 26. Congratulations to Professors Rina Banerjee, Paul Chan, Walid Raad, and Kevin Zucker, along with alumni, Daniel Arsham, Ernesto Caivano, Anna Conway, Amy Cutler, Benjamin Degen, Trenton Duerksen, Jason Fox, Yuri Masnyj, Wangechi Mutu, William Villalongo, and Garth Weiser. For more information visit www.ps1.org.

• Dean Dennis Adams of the School of Art is part of a momentous exhibition at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin titled Regarding Terror: The RAF-Exhibition. More than 100 works from 50 international artists from three generations are exhibited through May 16. For more information visit www.kw-berlin.de.

• School of Art staff member Nicholas Herman has two works on view at the Sculpture Center as part of its special projects series In Practice, through April 10. For more information visit www.sculpture-center.org.

• On April 1 Prof. Jacob Burckhardt, School of Art, will be showing his short film Roma at Millennium Gallery. For more information visit www.millenniumfilm.org.

• Prof. Scott Richter, School of Art, has a solo show at Elizabeth Harris Gallery in New York now through April 16. For more information visit: www.eharrisgallery.com.

• Staff member Jeffrey Gibson is part of Out of Bounds, a group show in the Glyndor Gallery at Wave Hill now through May 30. For more information visit www.wavehill.org/arts.

• Ross Cisneros (A’02) announces Regarding Evil at MIT in Cambridge, MA on April 3. Artists and scholars "have been invited to present visual and discursive material confronting the elusive and immeasurable subject of Evil" in a day long summit. For more information visit http://web.mit.edu/evil/.

Lectures and Public Programs

• Professor Remo Guidieri's Spring Seminar Series entitled THE HOPE-PRINCIPLE is open to Cooper Union students, faculty and staff:

  • April 7 at 12 noon in Room 315F - 1848: MANIFESTO's publication

  • April 7 at 6 pm in Room 315F - 1917: October, Petersburg

  • April 12 at 12 noon in Room 315F - 1953: Death of Stalin

  • April 15 at 6 pm in Room 315F - 1989: Berlin Wall Fall Das Hoffnung-Prinzip (finale): a tribute to Ernst Bloch

• April 12 at 6:30 pm in Wollman Auditorium - A lecture by Victor Burgin, artist, Professor of the History of Consciousness, University of California, Santa Cruz/London.

• April 21 at 6 pm in Room 315F - A lecture by Keller Easterling, architect, urbanist, writer, Associate Professor Yale School of Architecture. Open to Cooper Union students, faculty and staff.

• April 24 at 6 pm in Room 315F - A lecture by Sina Najafi, writer, curator, Editor-in-Chief of CABINET magazine, New York. Open to Cooper Union students, faculty and staff.

• The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture and The Architectural League of New York are cosponsoring the following events (free to Cooper Union students, faculty and staff, with I.D):

  • April 8 at 6:30 pm in The Great Hall - Stephen Shore and Thomas Struth: CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE DEFINITION OF PLACE with moderators: Mitch Epstein and Vicki Goldberg

• April 15 at 6:30 pm and a day-long workshop on Saturday April 16 from 9:30 am-5 pm in The Great Hall - GROUNDSWELL: CONSTRUCTING THE CONTEMPORARY LANDSCAPE organized with the Museum of Modern Art. For more information about projects included in the exhibition, visit the Museum of Modern Art's website.

• April 21 at 6:30 pm in The Great Hall - Joel Sternfeld and Sally Mann: CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE DEFINITION OF PLACE with moderators: Mitch Epstein and Vicki Goldberg.

• April 28 at 6:30 pm in The Great Hall - Elizabeth Diller: SAMPLES

• April 13 at 7 pm in The Great Hall - IS THERE A NEW BLACKLIST? A panel discussion, free and open to the public. Join renowned activist Tariq Ali and a panel of experts, moderated by Amy Goodman, for a discussion on the right to dissent in the United States; a freedom quickly disappearing from university campuses, the pages and broadcasts of national media, and public debate. For more information, contact 212-807-9680. Cosponsored by The Cooper Union, Verso Books and The New Press.

• April 6 at 6:00 pm in The Great Hall – The Feltman Lecture: Artist Keith Sonnier. Known for his innovative sculptures and installations using colored neon lights, Keith Sonnier will discuss his art and experience working with this unusual medium. This lecture is made possible, in part, by the endowment of Sidney and Ellen Feltman, who experienced a lifetime in the lighting industry and felt a need to leave a legacy for education. The Feltman’s gift to The Cooper Union’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences advances the benefits of good lighting design by introducing its architecture, art and engineering students to the philosophical contexts of lighting design and visual perception.

• April 7 at 6:30 pm in The Wollman Auditorium - Eakins Revealed: The Secret Life of an American Artist, a lecture by Henry Adams.

• Upcoming School of Art lectures for Doug Ashford’s Intra-Disciplinary Seminar are free and open to the public. All lectures are in Hewitt Room 207 at 7:00 pm. Please contact artschool@cooper.edu for more information.

  • April 4 - HELEN MOLESWORTH is the Chief Curator of Exhibitions at the Wexner Center for the Arts. She has written and lectured widely about critical and interpretive issues in contemporary art today. Her writings have appeared in October, Art Journal, and the journal Documents, which she co-founded in the early 1990’s. Her most recent exhibition Landscape Confection features new and recent work by eleven emerging and established contemporary artists whose art has broadened the scope of landscape painting.

  • April 11 – JAMES BENNING is a structuralist filmmaker and a Professor at CalArts where he teaches film and video. His films include Time & Half (1972), One Way Boogie Woogie (1977), Used Innocence (1988), El Valley Centro (1999), and Sogobi (2001). His recent film California Trilogy is a four-and-a-half hour triptych of California’s Central Valley. He was the subject of a documentary by Reinhard Wulf in which follows his search for locations for 13 Lakes, a film that focuses on large American lakes and their geographical and historical relationship to the landscape. He is also the recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship.

• The School of Art Student Lecture Series presents performance artist WILLIAM POPE. L, April 12 at 8:00pm in Hewitt Room 207. Please contact artschool@cooper.edu for more information.

Keep up to date with the latest Public Programs, Exhibitions and Events at This Month At Cooper.

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Did You Know?

• CU@Lunch continues to offer students the opportunity to hear Art and Architecture alumni talk about their careers and how to make it in their particular fields. On March 8, Zak Smith (A’98) spoke about his experience participating in the 2004 Whitney Biennial and on March 22, Josephine Halvorsen (A’03) spoke about her recent Fulbright Fellowship in Vienna.

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