Top of the News

  • Cooper Union's 147th Commencement
    The Cooper Union's 147th Commencement will take place on May 23, 2006. The most important of the formal academic pageants at the College, this year's ceremony, as usual, will offer a very exciting program, featuring as Commencement speaker, playwright, actor and professor, Anna Deavere Smith. The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton will then deliver a Keynote Address to the graduates. Recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Foundation "genius" Fellowship and hailed by Newsweek as "the most exciting individual in American theater," Anna Deavere Smith is recognized for her uncanny ability to examine and redefine race, community and character in America. The ceremony will mark the return to Cooper Union's Great Hall of the 42nd President of the United States (1993-2001). Swami Adiswarananda of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center of New York will present the invocation and Shekar Krishnan will be the student speaker.
  • The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture is pleased to announce that its new Master of Architecture II program has been registered by the State Education Department of the University of the State of New York. This MArch II is a design research degree open to applicants who hold a first professional degree in architecture. The program will offer concentrations in three areas: Theory, History and Criticism of Architecture, Urban Studies and Technologies. The program is structured to be completed in two full time consecutive semesters of study with a final thesis semester during the summer session. Thesis presentations will be made during the first week of the subsequent fall semester. It is anticipated that applications for fall 2007 will be accepted starting in late fall 2006. The program will begin with 6-9 students, with a maximum enrollment of 15 students.
  • Cooper Union's fourth Urban Visionaries Benefit and silent auction was a tremendous success, raising almost $850,000 to support the college's hallmark tradition of providing each accepted student with a full-tuition scholarship. The event, attended by more than 500 people, received splash coverage in The New York Times, The New York Sun and the New York Social Diary, including quotes and photos of honorees, guests, faculty and alumni. All of the 40 works donated by noted artists were sold at Silent Auction. Honorees include: Marie-Josée Kravis—Urban Citizenship, Jenny Holzer—Visual Art, Elizabeth Diller (AR'79) and Ricardo Scofidio (Arch Faculty, AR'55)—Architecture, Nicholas Donofrio—Engineering, Simon Lok (EE'97)—Emerging Talent.
  • Humanities and Social Sciences Dean Search
    Two candidates have been recommended to President Campbell by the Search Committee for the Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences at The Cooper Union. As part of the Dean Search Process, each candidate will deliver a public lecture to the Cooper Union Community. Below are brief bios along with date, time and location of each lecture. Please plan to attend what promises to be a series of stimulating discussions:

    April 11th at 4:30 PM
    Lecture by Dr. William Germano
    Hewitt Auditorium (Room 207)

    Dr. William Germano, an editor and publisher, served as Vice President and Publishing Director at Routledge Publishers from 1986-2005. Previously, Dr. Germano was Editor-in-Chief of the Columbia University Press. With a Ph.D. in English from Indiana University, Dr. Germano has published two books, From Dissertation to Book and Getting It Published: A Guide for Scholars and Anyone Else Serious About Serious Books. Dr. Germano has taught and lectured in the U.S., Europe and Canada.

    April 24th at 12:30 PM
    Lecture by Dr. Robert Eisinger
    Hewitt Auditorium (Room 207)

    Dr. Robert Eisinger is Associate Professor of Political Science in the College of Arts and Sciences at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, where he also serves as Chair of the Political Science Department. Professor Eisinger's teaching interests include public opinion, presidency, political parties and interest groups, religion and politics and the legislative process. Author of the Evolution of Presidential Polling, Professor Eisinger earned his Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Chicago.

  • New courses have boosted Spring enrollment in Cooper Union Continuing Education There are more than 850 students currently enrolled for the spring term. New and popular courses are: Storytelling With Images, Digital SLR, Knitting (beginning and intermediate,) and Monoprinting with Stencils.

Congratulations

  • Recently announced in The New York Times (3/15/06), P.S. 1 and the Museum of Modern Art selected Jennifer Lee (AR'97) and Pablo Castro to design the P.S. 1's summertime series known as "Warm Up," a site that is annually transformed into a popular outdoor party space
  • Associate Professor Maren Stange has been awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities 2006 Summer Stipend for work on her book Photography and the End of Segregation. Her project has been designated for support under the Endowment's "We the People" special initiative to support projects that explore significant aspects of American history and culture and advance knowledge of the principles that define America.
  • Alumni Laura Napier (A'98) and Joseph Woolridge (A'03) were nominated for the Barbara White Fellowships by School of Art Dean Saskia Bos. Both are School of Art technicians. They will participate in a four-week residency at the Vermont Studio Center this summer.
  • Arthur Simms, Adjunct Instructor, is one of 37 contemporary artists whose work will be on view at the American Academy of Arts and Letters galleries (March 9- April 9, 2006). The participants were chosen from a pool of more than 150 contemporary artists nominated by the members of the Academy, America's most prestigious society of architects, artists, writers, and composers.
  • In a letter from Senator Jose Garriga Pico of Puerto Rico, Professor Ysrael A. Seinuk, Architecture, was recently notified that the Senate of Puerto Rico passed a resolution "To express the most cordial and sincere congratulations from the Senate of Puerto Rico to Engineer Ysrael Seinuk, for having been selected among the 25 most influential Hispanics in The United States."
  • James Hicks (AR'94) was included in "The I.D. Forty: Who Deserves More Attention?" featured in the January/February 2006 issue.
  • Professor Robert Dell, Engineering, is the 2006 Lindbergh Grant Recipient for his work, "Environmental Alchemy: Creating Super Productive Urban Gardens using Waste Steam Heat." He will be recognized at an event to be held at the Minnesota History Center on May 19th in St. Paul.
  • Ralph Lerner (AR'74) was recently named Dean of The University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Architecture.
  • Toshiko Mori (AR'76) is one of six jurors for "inside::out weaving arts into the urban fabric," a design competition for the public spaces at the Boston Center for the Arts. She is also one of the participants in the 2006 "National Design Triennial: Design Life Now" sponsored by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

Publications and papers

  • Robert Thill, Director of Career Services and the Professional Internship Program for Art and Architecture, published "Paul de Guzman: Language and Architecture as Continuous Transient Barriers" to accompany the exhibition "Paul de Guzman: Text and the City" at the Art Gallery of Windsor in Ontario, Canada (April 1 - June 4, 2006).
  • The Municipal Art Society's Urban Center Books hosted "System Wien," a book launch and presentation by architect and Professor Lebbeus Woods, Architecture, on his recent project with the MAK in Vienna, Austria.

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giving to cooper union

  • Beating last year's total by 19%, Phonathon 2006 was a great success with enthusiastic volunteers—alumni, parents, students and friends—bringing in $394,687 in gifts and pledges during five evenings of calling.
  • Consolidated Edison (Con Edison) generously gave $50,000 in support of the 2006 Summer High School Engineering Research Internship Program, which offers some 60-70 high school students—many from schools in disadvantaged neighborhoods—the opportunity to explore engineering on the college level through faculty-supervised, hands-on engineering research projects.

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Don't Miss

General Interest

  • Each month, President Campbell hosts the President's Roundtable to give Cooper Union students the opportunity to engage in an informal dialogue over lunch with distinguished alumni or friends of the institution. The Roundtable series has been enormously successful in providing a platform for the exchange of ideas, giving students a chance to hear the success stories from individuals they admire. Recent guests have included Jeffrey Gural, Agnes Gund, Jack Rudin and Stephen Nicholas.

    April 28th Sculptor-turned-engineer Chuck Hoberman (A '79) will join Dr. Campbell for the Student Roundtable discussion scheduled at noon. Students interested in participating should contact the student Ad-Chairs in their respective schools to sign up. President of Hoberman Associates, Mr. Hoberman is perhaps best known as the creator of the Hoberman Sphere.

    Mr. Hoberman holds a number of patents for unfolding structures, and his products have received a variety of awards including a Silver Award from the Industrial Design Society of America in 1990, the National Endowment for the Arts Award in 1991 and the Chrysler Design Award in 1997. His artwork has been exhibited around the world at museums that include the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and the Mycal Otaru Bay in Hokkaido, Japan. Among his creations are the Hoberman Flight Ring, collapsible ultraweight flying discs, and the Hoberman Sphere, the 18-foot, 700-pound sculpture installed at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey. He continues to create structures both large and small, ranging from Expandagon, a geometrically dynamic building kit for children, to a retractable dome for Expo 2000 in Hannover, Germany as well as the Hoberman Arch, a centerpiece for the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. The Expanding Hypar is a 5000-pound sculpture at the California Science Center and the Expanding Helicoid sculpture, modeled on the double helix structure of DNA, is housed at Akron, Ohio's Inventure Place.

    Mr. Hoberman studied Liberal Arts at Brown University, earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The Cooper Union and a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University.

  • On April 17th the Summer Research Internship Program will hold an Open House for high school students who have been accepted into this summer's program.
  • The Albert Nerken School of Engineering will have an Open House on April 25th for students accepted to The Cooper Union for Fall 2006.
  • On April 25th The Order of the Engineer invites graduating engineering seniors, who are eligible to become members of this society, to its indoctrination ceremony in the Wollman Lounge at 12:00PM.
  • CU Alumni in Biomedical Businesses Reception on Thursday, April 6 (6-8PM) will feature guest speaker Dr. Frank T. Gentile (ChE'83), Senior Vice President, Research, of Hambrecht & Quist Capital Management LLC. The networking event, hosted by the Cooper Union Alumni Association, is for graduates currently working in biomedical businesses and students interested in the field. Wollman Lounge, Albert Nerken School of Engineering. Please RSVP by April 3. For more information and to register, please go to www.cualumni.com or call 212-353-4164.

  • As part of the School of Art curriculum, each senior student is required to organize an exhibition of their own work, a culmination of their four years at Cooper Union. It is an exciting time of year where back-to-back student shows fill various floors and gallery spaces in the Foundation Building for the months prior to graduation. Below is the schedule of exhibitions for the month of April; opening Receptions on Tuesday evenings from 6-8 pm.

    UPCOMING STUDENT EXHIBITIONS
    April 3-8
    Chris Gerne & Jeffrey Castellano: Great Hall Gallery
    Angelica Boamah, Ashleigh Caffey& Hakim Henry: Houghton Gallery and 2nd Floor Lobby Gallery
    Richard Yoo: Lubalin Center
    Matthew Schoen: 5th Floor Lobby Gallery
    James Brittingham & Caitlin Keogh: 6th Floor Lobby Gallery
    Yael Frank & William T. Harris: 7th Floor Lobby Gallery

    April 10-15
    Roland Allmeyer, John Aaron Frank & Leigh Ruple: Houghton Gallery and 2nd Floor Lobby Gallery
    2dd Show: Lubalin Center
    Ryan Greer: 5th Floor Lobby Gallery
    Sophie White: 6th Floor Lobby Gallery
    Erin Ikeler & Jessica Williams: 6th Floor Installation Room
    Lander Burton & Caroline Rosebrough: 7th Floor Lobby Gallery

    April 17-22
    Outreach Program Spring Exhibition Hewitt Lobby Gallery-Opens

    April 15
    Gabriel Abrantes, Alexander Carver & Miguel Chavez: Houghton Gallery and 2nd Floor Lobby Gallery
    The Annual Saturday Program Exhibition: 3rd Floor Lobby Gallery-Opens April 15
    Heidi Hahn: 5th Floor Lobby Gallery
    Robin Randisi: 6th Floor Lobby Gallery
    Aimee Lutkin: 6th Floor Installation Room
    Kenny Komer: 7th Floor Lobby Gallery

    April 24-29
    Pablo Diaz: Great Hall Gallery
    Cadin Batrack, Seth Labenz & Roy Rub: Houghton Gallery and 2nd Floor Lobby Gallery
    Kristen Breyer: 5th Floor Lobby Gallery
    Vanessa Gully-Santiago: 6th Floor Lobby Gallery
    Tanya Pann: 7th Floor Lobby Gallery

Alumni Events

  • We are pleased to announce that this year's Annual Founder's Day Dinner Dance will again honor the contributions of outstanding alumni. This year's event will be held at Gotham Hall at 7pm on April 21st:

    St. Gaudens Award
    Albert Greenberg A'48

    John Hejduk Award
    Maurice Donnell Cox AR'83

    Gano Dunn Award
    Kevin Burke EE'72
    Jack Gould ME'27*

    Alumnus of the Year
    Martin Trust ME'56

    For more information about the event, call 212-353-4164, email alumni@cooper.edu or visit www.Cualumni.com.
    *Posthumous

Exhibitions

  • Technical Assistant Emily Roz of The Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design & Typography will have work in a group show titled Fountain, a collaboration between Capla Kesting Fine Art, Front Room Gallery, and McCaig-Welles Gallery, 660 Twelfth Avenue, across the street from the Armory show at Pier 90 (March 9-March 12th).
  • School of Art adjunct faculty Stephen Ellis, a recent recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation's Painters and Sculptors Grant Program Award, has a solo show at Von Lintel Gallery (March 30-April 29, 2006). For more information visit www.vonlintel.com.
  • When Artists Say We, an exhibition at Artists Space, includes works created by Cooper Union faculty and alumni including School of Art Professors Doug Ashford, Gregg Bordotwitz, Sharon Hayes, Walid Raad, Shelly Silver, David Thorne, Alex Villar; former faculty and staff Jenny Perlin, Carrie Moyer, Zach Poff; Alumni Douglas Boatwright (A'04), Pedro Lasch (A'99), Nick Mauss (A'03), Katherine Oechtering (A'04), Ken Okiishi (A'01), and Lan Tuazon (A'99). This exhibition will be on view from March 8th to April 29th. For more information visit www.artistsspace.org.

Upcoming Lectures and Public Programs

  • Three Forum Lectures will take place in April in the Wollman Auditorium and all are invited.

    Wednesday, April 5 at 6:30pm, John Crawford will discuss combat in Iraq and discuss his new book, "The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell: An Accidental Soldier's Account of the War in Iraq."

    Wednesday, April 19 at 6:30pm, Philip Jenkins will talk about the "Decade of Nightmares: The End of the Sixties and the Making of Eighties America."

    Tuesday, April 25 at 6:30pm, Frederick Leiner will discuss "The End of Barbary Terror: America's 1815 War Against the Pirates of North Africa."

  • The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union presents the Feltman Series, a lecture made possible by the Ellen and Sidney Feltman Fund established at The Cooper Union to advance the principles and benefits of lighting design through the exploration of the practical, philosophical and aesthetic attributes of light and illumination:

    Monday, April 10, 2006 at 6:30PM, George Sexton, "Modern Museum Lighting," Great Hall
    Monday, April 24, 2006 at 6:30PM, Hervé Descottes, "Light and Space: 18 Works," Great Hall

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Did You Know?

  • Anthony Vidler, Dean and Professor, participated in "The Matta-Clark Summit" a symposium at Columbia University, along with artists: Tina Girouard, Dan Graham, Richard Nonas; art historians: Gwendolyn Owens and Philip Ursprung; and the architectural historian Spyridon Papapetros, moderated by Mark Wigley.
  • Craniv Boyd, School of Art 4th year student, is at the helm of Cooper Union's student run newspaper, The Pioneer. To contact him, email at Cooperpioneer@gmail.com.
  • The updated staff handbook is available on the Human Resources website and includes a new Whistle Blowers policy.
  • Karen Bausman (AR'82) was a guest commentator on "Secrets in the Sky: The Towers of Gotham" a segment in NYC TV Channel 25 series "Secrets of New York".
  • The Annual Egg Drop Competition, a great success, was featured in Newsday, AM New York and Metro Newspaper as well as on Fox 5, NY1 and WCBS (radio). Congratulations to the first place winner, Joe Koenig, a second year mechanical engineering student.
  • Engineering senior Shekar Krishnan participated in a five-person panel discussion with Natalie Portman on MTV about the political implications of her recently released movie, "V for Vendetta," and its relevance to international affairs.

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