Top of the News

  • Stan O'Neal, chairman of the board, chief executive officer and president of Merrill Lynch, will give the commencement address at Cooper Union's 148th commencement on May 22. O'Neal heads one of the world's leading personal and institutional financial management and advisory firms, with offices in 37 countries and approximately $1.6 trillion. Read his bio.
  • Demolition of the Hewitt Building is complete and excavation has begun! Our Groundbreaking Ceremony will be on May 9 at 11:30 a.m., with refreshments at 11:00 a.m. Students, faculty and staff are invited.
  • More than 300 alumni, faculty, students and friends of The Cooper Union attended the annual Founder's Day Dance to celebrate Peter Cooper's 216th birthday. The gala event took place on April 27th in the Hudson Theater at the Millennium Broadway Hotel.
  • Fifth Annual Urban Visionaries Benefit

    On Tuesday, June 12, 2007, Cooper Union will host its Fifth Annual Urban Visionaries Award Dinner and Silent Auction, at which Kara Walker will be honored for her accomplishments in visual art, Santiago Calatrava for his achievements in architecture and Craig Nevill-Manning of Google for his outstanding contributions to the field of engineering. Constance Milstein will be honored for urban citizenship and Jennifer Lee (AR'97) as an emerging talent.

    This year's benefit will take place at 7 World Trade Center—a dramatic downtown space with spectacular 360-degree views of New York City. 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 the awards presentation. Works can be previewed online at www.cooper.edu/urbanvisionaries.

    Tickets are available for $500, $1,000 and $2,500, and tables at $5,000, $10,000 and $25,000. A limited number of tickets are available for faculty and staff at the discounted price of $250. All proceeds will support Cooper Union's hallmark policy of awarding full-tuition scholarships to all admitted students. For more information or to make a reservation, contact Lindsey Cole at 212.353.4106 or uv@cooper.edu.

    Keep checking www.cooper.edu/urbanvisionaries for updates and to see photographs of last year's event.

Congratulations

  • Five Cooper Union students received National Science Foundation Research Scholarships: David Berger (CE'09), Yoo Rhim Choi (CE'10), Hyunjin Chung (EE'08), Leah Isseroff (ChE'07) and Sikha Rana (CE'08).
  • Natasha Broodie (A'09) and Caitlin Martusewicz (AR'09) received Emily J. Young Scholarships for Art and Architecture.
  • Robert Bordo (Art fac.) has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.
  • Stephan E. Butler will receive the Young Engineer of the Year award from ASCE (NJ) on May 17th.
  • Vito A. Guido (Eng. fac.) has been elevated to the rank of chapter honor member of the Cooper Union chapter of Chi Epsilon—the Civil Engineering honor society. Dr. Guido has been a member of Chi Epsilon since May 1971, when he was initiated as a student attending Polytechnic University, and has been the faculty adviser to the Cooper Union chapter since 1979.
  • Pam Lins (Adj. Art fac.) has received a Howard Foundation fellowship.
  • Diane Lewis (AR'76/Arch. fac.) received the AIA Brunner grant to curate NY 150+: A Timeline: Ideas, Civic Institutions, and Futures (see below).
  • Congratulations to Tammy Nguyen (A'07) for winning a Fulbright Fellowship to Vietnam, to Sebastien Tilmans (CE'07) for winning a Fulbright Fellowship to Panama and to Shira Horowitz (EE'07) for winning a Fulbright Fellowship to Sweden.
  • Joan Ockman (AR'80) has been named the 2007 Will and Nan Clarkson Chair in Architecture at the University of Buffalo.
  • Christine Wang (A'08) has been accepted to the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture for an artists' residency this summer.
  • Lebbeus Woods (Arch. fac.) has won the American Academy of Arts and Letters 2007 Architecture Award.
  • Caroline Woolard (A'06) has been accepted to Ox-Bow for an artists' residency.

publications, presentations and major exhibitions

  • Samuel Anderson (AR'82/Arch. fac.), Studio Visit: Samuel Anderson Architects, The Architect's Newspaper, March 21, 2007.
  • Mercedes Armillas (AR'96), Mario Censullo (AR'90), "Never Forget" by Joseph Giovannini, Interior Design, March 2007, on New York Academy of Sciences at 7 World Trade Center by H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture, members of project team.
  • Daniel Arsham (A'03), Dennis Palazzolo (A'04) and Kenneth Andrew Mroczek (A'05), Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin Miami, Guild, May 12th.
  • Dore Ashton (H&SS fac.), essay on Brancusi, Best Spiritual Writing of 2007, Houghton Mifflin; Bonevardi: Chasing Shadows, Constructing Art, University of Texas Press, 2007.
  • Christine Benedict (AR'86), speaker, First Annual Green Design Forum sponsored by New York Metropolitan Chapter, American Society of Interior Designers, April 18.
  • Kevin Bone (Arch. fac.), "A Reservoir of Records" by Lawrence Biemiller, Chronicle of Higher Education, March 16, 2007; with Gina Pollara (AR'91), Writers Talk: Water-Works: The Architecture and Engineering of the New York City Water Supply, Municipal Art Society's Urban Center, 2007.
  • Verne Dawson (A'80), Galerie Eva Presenhauber, Paintings, through May 26th.
  • Marco de Michelis (Arch. fac.), "A Better Tomorrow", exhibition review of Yona Friedman: About Cities," The Drawing Center, The Architect's Newspaper, April 4, 2007; "Struggles between Art and Architecture", lecture, Columbia University, April 4.
  • Diller Scofidio + Renfro (Elizabeth Diller [AR'79], Ricardo Scofidio [AR'55/Arch. fac.]) "Fold the ICA into Boston's Waterfront" by Sarah Amelar, cover story, Architectural Record, March 2007; "The of Building for Art" by Vernon Mays, Architect, March 2007 on Diller Scofidio + Renfro's ICA in Boston, Jesse Saylor (AR'02), on project team.
  • Thomas Leeser (visiting prof.), exhibition design, "Feedback" and "Gameworld", LABoral Art and Industrial Creation Center, Gijon, Spain.
  • Diane Lewis (AR'76/Arch. fac.), curator, NY 150+: A Timeline: Ideas, Civic Institutions, and Futures, The Center for Architecture, April 9-June 23, opening reception April 12 (additional support from Peter Schubert [Arch. fac.], among others); Diane Lewis: Inside Out Architecture New York City, Charta, 2007.
  • Jeff Madrick (H&SS fac.), panelist, The Conservatism and Liberalism of the 1960s: Then and Now, New York Public Library, May 1st, 4:30-6:00pm.
  • Tom McGrath (A'00), Cherry and Martin Gallery, through May 12th.
  • Thomas Micchelli (Visual Resources Collection), catalog essay, solo exhibition of Abby Leigh, Betty Cuningham Gallery, May 3-June 2, 2007.
  • Margaret Morton (Art fac.), Spring Street Gallery, Celestial Cities: Kyrgyzstan.
  • Daniel Radman (AR'92), "The new headquarters of Roger Ferris + Partners in Westport, Connecticut, revives a waterfront warehouse" by John Peter Radulski, Architectural Record, March 2007.
  • Ahmad Rahimian (Arch. fac.), co-author, "Something Old, Something New," Modern Steel Construction, April 2007.
  • Reiser + Umemoto's 0-14 has broken ground in Dubai (Jesse Reiser [AR'81] and Nanako Umemoto [AR'83]), architects; Ysrael A. Seinuk PC [Arch. fac.], structural engineer; William Cooper Mack [AR'06], Michael Overby [AR'06], Raha Talebi [AR'05] and Michael Young [Arch. fac.], design team.) In addition, Reiser and Umemoto's Atlas of Novel Tectonics won the Jan Tschichold Prize for Best Designed Swiss Books 2006 and first prize of the Gutenberg International Prize of Leipzig.
  • David Shapiro (Arch. fac.), poetry reading, with Joseph Lease, San Francisco State University Unitarian Center, April 5; New and Selected Poems (1965-2006), Overlook Press, 2007.
  • Martha Skinner (AR'95), lecture, "Space/Time Mapping-The City as Moving Images," Texas A&M University, February 21, 2007.
  • Paul Thek (A'54), Alexander and Bonin, newspaper paintings 1981-1983, through May 12th.
  • Thomas Tsang (AR'00), exhibition, Rome in 50 Pieces; Department of Lost and Found, American Academy in Rome, March 26-30.
  • Anthony Tung (AR'72), symposium participant, "Global Place: Practice, Politics and the Polis", January 2007.
  • Anthony Vidler (Arch. dean & fac.), preface, Public Intimacy: Architecture and the Visible Arts, by Giuliana Bruno.

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giving to cooper union

  • Many thanks to Harold S. Goldberg (EE'44) who won the National Academy of Engineering's Gordon Prize and celebrated by establishing the Harold S. Goldberg Prize Fund at The Cooper Union, which will provide an annual $5,000 prize in perpetuity to be awarded to a graduating student of the Albert Nerken School of Engineering who has demonstrated the finest technical leadership.
  • The Cooper Union's generous alumni Alexander Berger (CE'47), Herbert G. Luther (Eng'41) and Edward Owen (EE'42) remembered the college with generous bequests.
  • To date, a dozen members of the Cooper Union community have made direct gifts from their qualified IRAs to the college using the IRA Rollover Provision, which became law last year. They've used their IRA rollover gifts to support the Annual Fund, the New Academic Building Fund and endowment funds at The Cooper Union. The new law permits individuals who are age 70½ and older to rollover up to $100,000 per year from an IRA directly to a charity now through December 31, 2007. For more about the new law please visit: http://www.cooper.edu/administration/development/ira.html.
  • The Consolidated Edison Company has renewed its support for the Summer High School Engineering Internship Program. The program offers approximately 70 talented high school students—many from disadvantaged backgrounds—the opportunity to explore engineering on the college level through participation in faculty-led research projects.

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Don't Miss

Alumni Events

  • The Golden Legion Celebration honoring the 50th anniversary of the class of 1957 will be held on Friday, May 4, 2007. Early bird discussions and coffee will take place in the Albert Nerken School of Engineering at 9:30 a.m. Morning check-in will begin in the Foundation Building in the Great Hall Gallery at 10:30 a.m. The class of 1957 will be inducted into the Golden Legion by President George Campbell Jr. during a luncheon in Wollman Lounge from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. Guided tours will follow the luncheon, and the day's events will culminate with a reception for all Golden Legion members of the classes of 1926 through 1957 in Wollman Lounge from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
  • The annual On the Rooftop party will be held at the Peter Cooper Suite Terrace on Thursday, May 17, 2007 from 7 to 9 p.m. Event chair Michael Granat (ME'06) and the classes of 1986-2006 will welcome our newest alumni, the class of 2007, into the Cooper Union Alumni Association.
  • The annual commencement lunch for the class of 2007 will be held on Monday, May 21, 2007 in the Peter Cooper Suite from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. The senior class will present their class gift to President Campbell during the event.

Upcoming Lectures and Public Programs

  • Howard Zinn: An Evening of Dramatic Readings From Voices of a People's History of the United States
    Reading, with Kerry Washington, Allison Moorer, Ally Sheedy, Brian Jones, Danny Glover, Deepa Fernandes, Erin Cherry, Harris Yulin, Kathleen Chalfant, Opal Alladin, Staceyann Chin, Steve Earle and Arun Gupta
    Wednesday, May 2nd, 6:30 pm
    The Great Hall
    7 East 7th Street at Third Avenue
    Free

    Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove will introduce and narrate an evening of dramatic readings from Voices of a People's History of the United States. In a series of compelling readings, the words of rebels, dissenters, and visionaries from our past—and present—will echo in The Cooper Union's historic Great Hall, including Malcolm X, Frederick Douglass, Fannie Lou Hamer, Maria Stewart, Tecumseh, Emma Goldman, Paul Robeson, Susan B. Anthony, Yuri Kochiyama, Leonard Peltier, Cindy Sheehan, Martin Luther King, Jr., Henry Turner, and many others.

  • An Evening with Barbara Kingsolver
    Lecture and book signing
    Thursday, May 3rd, 6:30 pm
    The Great Hall
    7 East 7th Street at Third Avenue
    $10, call Ticket Central: 212 279-4200 or go to www.ticketcentral.com. The box office at 416 West 42nd St. is open noon-7 p.m.

    Barbara Kingsolver, bestselling author of The Poisonwood Bible, will speak in The Cooper Union's Great Hall about her new book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, which chronicles the year she and her family vowed to spend eating a locally-produced diet and avoiding food transported by the use of fossil fuel.

    Proceeds from this event will benefit Bette Midler's New York Restoration Project, a non-profit dedicated to revitalizing underserved parks, community gardens, and open space throughout New York City and to teaching children to be better environmental stewards.

  • Canticorum Virtuosi

    Saturday, May 5th, 6:30 pm
    The Great Hall
    7 East 7th Street at Third Avenue
    Free

  • Vincent Bugliosi
    Lecture
    Tuesday, May 15th, 6:30 pm
    The Great Hall
    7 East 7th Street at Third Avenue
    Free

    Vincent Bugliosi (the prosecutor in the Charles Manson case and author of best-selling Helter Skelter) will discuss his new book, Reclaiming History. This is the fruit of 20 years of research into the assassination of President Kennedy. Bugliosi has used his long experience as a prosecutor to examine each of the myriad conspiracy theories that have surrounded the assassination and come to the conclusion that they are all incorrect.

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Did You Know?

  • On May 1, NY Tech Meetup will take place at 7 pm. These meetups of Internet developers have become a monthly fixture at Cooper Union.
  • The classes of 1948, 1956 and 1959 had a tremendous impact on last year's Annual Fund campaign. The class of 1956 raised the most money, the class of 1959 had the highest percent participation and the class of 1948 made the largest number of alumni gifts. Individual events will be held to thank the classes who are responsible for making the Annual Fund campaign such a success. For more information, please contact Carrie Marsh at 212.353.4173 or via e-mail at cmarsh@cooper.edu.
  • Gerardo del Cerro (Eng. fac./director of assessment) and Leslie Sklair from the London School of Economics, will conduct a joint research project entitled "The Political Economy of Global Architectural Production: from Sydney to Bilbao," which will focus on the contributions of urban iconic architecture to capitalist globalization and neoliberalism during the second half of the 20th century.
  • Cooper Union's Career Center, in conjunction with the American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Student Chapter, the National Society for Professional Engineers (NSPE), the American Engineering Alliance (AEA) and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), sponsored a panel about professionalism in the engineering field and the value of the professional engineer license to the engineering career on April 12, 2007. Thank you to the panelists, Brian Deutsch, EIT (ChE'03/MChE'04); Sal Galetta, PE; Jack Kleinfeld, PE; and Tom Szekely, PE; who did a fantastic job in encouraging professionalism in engineering, for both Cooper Union and area college students.

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