Top of the News

  • Fall 2006 Applications: Word is getting out about all of the exciting initiatives at The Cooper Union. The 2,593 first year applications received to date exceed total first year applications last year by more than eleven (11) percent. Kudos to all of the academic divisions and to the Admissions Office.
  • New academic building update: Preparations are underway for groundbreaking, which may occur as early as summer 2006. Plans are being developed to empty the Hewitt Building and to relocate all occupants. The institution is seeking classroom, office and student studio space in close proximity to Cooper Union. Watch this space for status updates.
  • Kevin Burke (EE '72): Having been appointed President and CEO of Consolidated Edison, Inc. in September 2005, Kevin Burke has now also been elected Chairman of the Board, replacing Eugene McGrath who is retiring.
  • Middle States 10 Year Review
    The Cooper Union is scheduled to have its Middle States Accreditation evaluation visit during the 2007-2008 academic year. President Campbell has appointed Dean Peter Buckley as the Chair of the Middle States Self Study Evaluation. To that end, Dean Buckley, with the assistance of the Vice Presidents and Deans, has assembled a Self Study Steering Committee whose membership includes:
    • Peter Buckley, Chair - Acting Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences
    • Kevin Chea - Senior Budget Analyst
    • Claire Gunning - Art and Architecture Librarian
    • Gerardo Del Cerro - Director of Assessment
    • Ellen Dorsey - Associate Registrar
    • Fred Fontaine - Professor and Head of Electrical Engineering
    • Day Gleeson - Associate Professor of Art
    • Claire McCarthy - Director, Public Affairs
    • Elizabeth O'Donnell - Associate Dean of Architecture
    • Mary Stieber - Assisant Professor, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
    • Richard Stock - Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering
    • Ricardo Scofidio - Professor of Architecture
    • Milton Yuen - Controller
  • The Albert Nerken School of Engineering will host an accreditation team visit from the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) in the Fall of 2006. The last ABET visit took place in November of 2000 and was very successful for the Nerken School, as reflected in the positive comments that the team expressed in its written report. ABET will evaluate the Engineering curriculum as well as the facilities of our school, and will meet with faculty, student and administration representatives in a visit that will last 3 days.

Congratulations

  • Professor Gerardo del Cerro, Social Sciences, obtained his second Ph.D. from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain). The title of his dissertation was "El Estado y la globalización. Redes transnacionales e interdependencia compleja" (The State and Globalization. Transnational Networks and Complex Interdependence), soon to be published in Spanish. The dissertation committee unanimously gave Dr. del Cerro's work and public dissertation defense the highest distinction of magna cum laude.

  • Roberto Concepcion Jr. (ChE'06) was accepted to law schools at Rutgers University-Newark, Fordham University, Cardozo School of Law and George Washington University.

  • Joe Beirne (A'82) joined PostWorks, a film and High Definition post facility, as senior technical advisor.

  • Adi Shamir (B.Arch '85), has been named Executive Director of the Van Alen Institute for Public Architecture. Adi is currently Dean of Undergraduate Studies at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco.

  • Cranbrook Festival Project, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, by Peter Lynch (B.Arch '84), Architect, with Harry Giles, Structural Designer, was selected for the 53rd Annual P/A Awards program. All winning projects are currently on exhibition at the Center for Architecture, 27 January-25 February.

Publications and papers

  • Professor Gerardo del Cerro, Social Sciences, has been commissioned to write the "Global City" entry for the Encyclopedia of Urban Studies, to be published by SAGE. He is also writing a review of Manuel Castells' recent book on information technology and global capitalism (The Network Society. A Cross-Cultural Perspective) for the International Sociology Review of Books. In addition, Professor del Cerro is now completing a book chapter entitled "Nationalism, Globalization and Sovereignty in the Basque Country" for a volume on Cities and Sovereignty. Nationalist Conflicts in the Urban Realm, edited by Diane E. Davis, Professor and Associate Dean of Architecture and Urban Planning at MIT.

  • Professor Brian Swann, Social Sciences, has new poems in: Poetry, Notre Dame Review, North American Review, Iowa Review, Southwest Review, Boulevard, Southern Review, New Letters, Prairie Schooner, Poetry International, The Journal, Poetry East, Prism International (Canada). He gave readings from his two new collections at the University of Massachusetts and Central Missouri State University.

  • Associate Dean of Engineering Simon Ben-Avi with Ian Kremenic and others published: "Cyclic Loading of Coracoclavicular Ligament Reconstructions," and "Cyclic Loading of Achilles Tendon Repairs Simulating Early Postoperative Forces."

  • Professor Jameel Ahmad, Director of the Cooper Union Research Foundation was a guest speaker at The Association of Energy Engineers', (NY Chapter) February meeting. The topic of his lecture was Energy System Research & Innovation.

  • Professor Kausik Chatterjee, Engineering, and Christopher Yu (EE'08), produced "A Floating Random-Walk Algorithm for the Solution of the Time-dependent Heat Equation: Validation with an 1D Analytical Benchmark," which was accepted for presentation at the Ninth International Conference on Advanced Computational Methods and Experimental Measurements in Heat and Mass Transfer, 5-7 July 2006, New Forest, UK.

  • Gwen Hyman, Director of the Center for Writing & Language Arts gave a paper, "Redolent of Celebrity: Chefs, Diners, Fame, Class," at the Southwest/Texas Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association, Food and Culture Area, Albuquerque, NM in February. In March she will speak on "The common error about opium" at The Moonstone Victorian Studies Faculty Seminar, CUNY Graduate Center, "Writing Without Classrooms: Pedagogy Beyond the Writing Course" at New Jersey College English Association, Seaton Hall, "Literally the Half of a Man: Class, Industrialism and the Gothic Gentleman in Wilkie Collins' The Law and the Lady" at the American Comparative Literature Association, Princeton, and "Dracula Mon Amour: Thirsting to Connect" at the Interdisciplinary Nineteenth-Century Studies Conference, Rutgers.

  • BEWITCHED, BOTHERED & BEWILDERED - SPATIAL EMOTION IN CONTEMPORARY ART & ARCHITECTURE features texts in English and German by Anthony Vidler, Architecture Dean and Faculty, as well as by Adam Budak & Heike Munder, Philippe Rahn, Mark Wigley, Stephen Willats and is published by the Migros Museum in Zurich, Switzerland.

  • In the "Designers Global Review 2006" of the January 2006 issue of DESIGN INTELLIGENCE, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, by Diller Scofidio + Renfro was one of 30 featured projects. (Elizabeth Diller (B.Arch '79); Ricardo Scofidio (B.Arch '55)).

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giving to cooper union

  • Many thanks to Trustee Francois deMenil (AR'87) for his generous commitment of $500,000 toward the construction of Cooper Union's new academic building; and to Lawrence Benenson, also a Trustee, who has made a new committment $100,000 to the Building Fund.

  • Thanks also to Monica and Theodore Nicholas (CE'58) who are in the process of establishing a $200,000 Charitable Gift Annuity, a gift that pays individuals an income for life and then provides deferred support for the college. Their generous gift planning makes them the newest members of The Society of 1859.

  • Our gratitude also goes to the generous alumni, faculty, staff and friends whose generous contributions to the Annual Fund have yielded a year-to-date total more than 15 percent greater than it was in 2005.

  • The Cooper Union recently received bequests from Yaye Togasaki Breitenbach, Fred Philipson (A'41), Sally and George Kligfield (ME'36) and Gordon Magee (Eng'20).

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Don't Miss

General Interest

  • Fourth Annual Urban Visionaries Benefit
    On Tuesday, March 28, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art will host its fourth annual Urban Visionaries Benefit at which Jenny Holzer will be honored for her accomplishments in visual art, Elizabeth Diller (AR'79) and Ricardo Scofidio (AR'55) for their achievements in architecture, Nicholas Donofrio, Executive Vice President, Innovation and Technology at IBM, for his outstanding contributions to the field of engineering. Marie-Josée Kravis will be honored for urban citizenship and Simon Lok (EE'97, MEE'98) as an emerging talent.

    This year's benefit will take place at Skylight, a dramatic new events space in Lower Manhattan. The evening will begin with a cocktail reception featuring an extensive Silent Art Auction of small works by some of the country's most talented artists, followed by a seated dinner and awards presentation. Works are on view at http://www.cooper.edu/urbanvisionaries/auction.html.

    Tickets are available for $500, $1,000 and $2,500, and tables at $5,000, $10,000 and $25,000. All proceeds will support The Cooper Union's hallmark policy of awarding full-tuition scholarships to all admitted students. For more information and reservations, contact Lindsey Cole at 212.353.4106 or via email at lcole@cooper.edu. Keep checking www.cooper.edu/urbanvisionaries for updates and to see photographs of last year's event.

  • Volunteers for Phonathon 2006 - Every spring parents, students, and alumni generously volunteer their time to participate in The Cooper Union's Phonathon, which this year will take place from March 13-20 and will be chaired by Yash Risbud (EE'92, MEE'94). The Phonathon raises much needed funding for the College's Annual Fund, which supports The Cooper Union's most basic needs: faculty, the physical plant, and the tradition of a full-tuition scholarship for every student. All gifts to the Annual Fund are fully tax-deductible. To volunteer for this year's Phonathon please email alumni@cooper.edu or call 212-353-4164.

  • 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 and Jack Rudin.

    The next President's Roundtable Discussion is scheduled for Tuesday, March 21st at Noon. The guest speaker will be the former New York Jets physician Dr. Stephen J. Nicholas, an orthopedic surgeon from Lenox Hill Hospital and Director of the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma (NISMAT). Students interested in participating should contact the student Ad-Chairs in their respective schools to sign up. Dr. Stephen Nicholas is a renowned orthopedic surgeon and a recognized authority in the field of sports medicine. He has worked extensively with professional and collegiate athletes, including serving as orthopedist for the New York Jets, New York Islanders, Hofstra University and the New Jersey Gladiators. Dr. Nicholas has a strong commitment to education and research in sports medicine and serves on the publications committee of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. Dr. Nicholas also delivered the Jack & Lewis Rudin - Charles E. Schaffner Lecture here at The Cooper Union last March.

  • Don't miss CU@Lunch with Jennifer Lee (AR'97) on March 7 at noon. Jennifer Lee was most recently selected to participate with her firm OBRA Architects as a finalist in this year's PS1/MoMA Young Architects Program and was named one of 2005's "Emerging Voices" by the Architectural League of New York. She has taught at The Cooper Union and previously in the Graduate Architecture Department of Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, as well as acting as Architect-in-Residence at Cranbrook Art Academy. Her firm's work has been honored by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design and exhibited at the Rhode Island School of Design. OBRA's first monograph, published by China Architecture and Building Press, was released in October 2005. CU@Lunch is sponsored by Career Services and Alumni Relations.

  • As part of the Mark Morris Dance Group 25th Anniversary Season at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Dido and Aeneas will be performed from March 15 to 18. Professor Robert Bordo, School of Art, was the scenic designer for this 1989 production. He will be discussing the work with a panel including Mark Morris, Issac Mizrahi and Maira Kalman on March 6 at 7pm.

  • Ernesto Caivano (A'99) is participating in a new series at the MoMA entitled "Artists Speak: Conversations on Contemporary Art" with Glenn Lowry. On March 1, he will speak in a session entitled "Painting: Figuratively Speaking" which will address the persistent relevance of figurative painting and its relationship to artistic practice and culture today.

  • Grahame Shane, Visiting Professor, will be lecturing at the Harvard Graduate School of Design on Tuesday 7 March.

Alumni Events

  • The Annual Founder's Day Dinner Dance celebrating Peter Cooper's 215th Birthday and honoring alumni for their achievements will be held on April 21, 7pm at Gotham Hall, 1356 Broadway. Call 212-353-4164 or email alumni@cooper.edu to attend.

  • On March 7, the Cooper Union Alumni Association will host a reception at the New York State Capitol Building in Albany, NY. President George Campbell, Jr. will be the guest speaker. Alumni, parents and friends have been invited to the reception, which will also include a guided tour of the historic building. For more information, call 212-353-4164 or email alumni@cooper.edu.

  • On March 23, the Cooper Union Alumni Association will host a reception at A.P.Stump's restaurant (163 W. Santa Clara Street) in San Jose, CA from 6:00- 8:00 pm. President George Campbell, Jr. will be the guest speaker. The cost of the reception is $30 per person and the deadline to RSVP is March 20. For more information, call 212-353-4164 or e-mail alumni@cooper.edu.

  • On March 24, the Cooper Union Alumni Association along with Art Zigas (ME'44) and Sim Blaustein (ME'99) will host a reception and dinner at the World Trade Club (One Ferry Plaza) in San Francisco, CA beginning at 6:00 pm. President George Campbell, Jr. will be the guest speaker. The cost of this event is $45 per person and the deadline to RSVP is March 20. For more information, call 212-353-4164 or e-mail alumni@cooper.edu.

Exhibitions

  • Professor Robert Bordo is in "Out of the Blue," an exhibition about weather and the creative process. This group show at the Abington Art Center in Philadelphia opens March 4 and will be on view through May 6.

  • Amy Cutler (A'97) has a solo show at the Indianapolis Museum of Art from March 10 through June 4.

  • Ernesto Caivano (A'99) has a solo show and Guild and Greyshkul from March 11 to April 8. He also has two drawings in Twice Drawn, a survey of the last half-century of modern and contemporary drawing at the Tang Museum at Skidmore College. Featuring over 40 artists, Twice Drawn will be on view from March 11 to June 4.

  • Luke Butler (A'93) and Simon Eskow (A'93) as well as alumnae and staff member Anna Hostvedt are in a group show at Local Project in Long Island City. "Restless Natives: Art of Native New Yorkers" will be on view until March 4.

  • Kirsten Deirup (A'02) and Blaze Lampur (A'05) have work in "MetLife," a group show curated by Geoffrey Young at Morgan Lehman Gallery. "MetLife" will be on view through March 25.

  • Yuri Masnyi (A'98), Matthew Monahan (A'94), Kori Newkirk (A'92) and Jennifer Reeves (Adjunct Instructor) will be in The Whitney Biennial 2006: Day for Night from March 2 to May 28 at the Whitney Museum.

  • Miguelina Rivera (A'98) has a sculpture titled Coeur Ardent on view in front of the opera house in Liege, Belgium.

Upcoming Lectures and Public Programs

  • Richard Striner: Father Abraham: Lincoln's Relentless Struggle to End Slavery
    Lecture and book signing
    Tuesday, March 7, 6:30 pm
    Wollman Auditorium
    51 Astor Place, 8th Street between Third and Fourth Avenues
    Free

    Lincoln is the single most compelling figure in our history, but also one of the most enigmatic. Was he the Great Emancipator, a man of deep convictions who ended slavery in the U.S, or simply a reluctant politician compelled by the force of events to free the slaves? In Father Abraham, Prof. Striner challenges recent portraits of Lincoln as an essentially passive politician and reluctant abolitionist. Richard Striner is Professor of History at Washington College and a Senior Writer for the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission. He has written for numerous publications including The Washington Post, The Smithsonian Institution Press, and William & Mary Quarterly.

  • Alex Katz (A'49)
    Lecture
    Thursday, March 9, 6:30 pm
    The Great Hall
    7 East 7th Street at Third Avenue
    Free

    Alex Katz, a key member of the New York art scene since the 1960s, is a towering figure in contemporary painting. He is best known for his larger-than-life portraits (some, billboard sized) of sophisticated women, painted with consummate technique, as well as portraits of men, groups, landscapes, and interiors. His work is many major museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Tate Modern in London, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and the Nationalgalerie in Berlin. Alex Katz is a graduate of The Cooper Union School of Art.

  • Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove: Voices of a People's History of the United States
    Lecture
    Friday, March 24, 6:30pm
    The Great Hall
    7 East 7th Street at Third Avenue
    Free

    Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, first published in 1980, is a chronicle of American history from the bottom up, focusing not on great men in high places, but on ordinary citizens in their homes, their communities, and their workplaces. In the past 25 years, it has sold over 1 million copies. Now, in a companion volume edited by Anthony Arnove, Howard Zinn presents voices largely missing from traditional narratives of U.S. history. In this volume we find the words of Frederick Douglass, George Jackson, Chief Joseph, Sacco and Vanzetti, Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Mark Twain, and Malcolm X. among many others. Howard Zinn is a historian, playwright, and social activist. He was a shipyard worker and Air Force bombardier before he went to college under the GI Bill and received his Ph.D. from Columbia University. He has taught at Spelman College and Boston University, and has been a visiting professor at the University of Paris and the University of Bologna. He has received the Thomas Merton Award, the Eugene V. Debs Award, the Upton Sinclair Award, and the Lannan Literary Award. He lives in Auburndale, Massachusetts. Anthony Arnove is the editor of Howard Zinn's Terrorism and War, and his writing has appeared in The Nation, Financial Times, and Mother Jones. He is a regular contributor to ZNet.

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Did You Know?

  • One week after Hurricane Katrina's destruction, The Albert Nerken School of Engineering began integrating lessons from Hurricane Katrina in the curriculums of EID 101 and CE 363/364 (Civil Engineering Design I and II).

    • Freshmen, enrolled in an introductory engineering design course, investigated the failures of the existing systems in New Orleans, and then proposed design upgrades to the existing levees, drainage system, and evacuation plans.

    • "POWER New Orleans" (Prevention of Water from Entering the Region of New Orleans) is a comprehensive Cooper Union senior project, in which three students have researched and devised an effective, low-cost plan that includes both design and strategic positioning of protection barriers, floodgates and floodwalls to prevent floodwater from entering Lake Pontchartrain and the city.

  • Professor Dore Ashton, School of Art, was featured in a recent issue of Cultura Magazine.

  • Librarian Thomas Micchelli's 7-minute digital video short, In Brief, was screened on February 17 as part of the 2006 United States Super 8mm & Digital Video Festival at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.

  • John Rossiello (ME'01) participated in the Empire State Building Run-Up, sponsored by the New York Road Runners. A picture of the runners ran in The New York Times on February 8.

  • During the Fall, Ed Feiner (B.Arch '69) was a guest speaker in Washington, DC at the National Building Museum's Silver Anniversary Bash. He also participated in the inter-disciplinary symposium "Designer Activism - A Call for Positive Change through Design", hosted by FocusOnDesign at the Neo Con East conference in Baltimore.

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