Marie Morrone

EE '63

Marie Morrone

The Vincent C. Morrone Scholarship Fund We warmly welcome Mrs. Marie Morrone as a member of the Sarah Bedell Cooper Society.  With a thoughtful and generous gift, Mrs. Morrone has established the Vincent C. Morrone Scholarship Fund in memory of her late husband, Vincent, EE ’63, who died earlier this year at the age of 84. Vincent Morrone’s story is a classic Cooper tale.  He grew up in Manhattan, graduating from the Bronx High School of Science, and while working at his father’s gas station and auto shop became interested in mechanics.  The elder Mr. Morrone expected his son to join the family business, but Vincent’s classmate, recognizing his friend’s aptitude, urged him to apply to Cooper Union and he was accepted.  Vincent became the first in his family to attend college.  A rewarding 30-year career at Con Edison followed ¬–– first as an engineer and later, after earning an MBA at Wagner College, as an executive with the company.  Vincent and Marie, who was a pharmacist, enjoyed almost 60 years of marriage and traveled the world in retirement.   Mr. Morrone always intended to “give something back” to Cooper so that others would benefit from the same opportunities as the school had afforded to him.  Mrs. Morrone chose to grant his wish now, while she is able to enjoy the rewards of her philanthropy.   By combining an outright gift and a charitable gift annuity, she has been able to provide essential scholarship support for current students, while also earning life income for herself.  Eventually, the charitable gift annuity will transform into a permanent endowment, helping Cooper sustain scholarship assistance for years to come. Marie met Vincent while he was a student at Cooper.  Upon his graduation in 1963, she -- along with a dozen or so other wives – earned a “Pushing Hubby through School” award!  Times may have changed, but what endures is Peter Cooper’s commitment to “soaring minds,” who will use their education to “secure the greatest good to the greatest number of youth in our City, our country, and the world.” The entire Cooper Union community expresses it deep gratitude to Vincent and Marie Morrone for supporting emerging artists, architects and engineers in pursuit of their dreams.

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.