William Vopat, Mechanical Engineering 1931, was an author and educator who devoted forty-three years to Cooper Union. He was head of The Cooper Union Mechanical Engineering department, a professor of mechanical engineering, and Dean Emeritus.
William Vopat authored multiple text books published by McGraw Hill in the interdisciplinary fields of applied energy conversion, steam power plants and engineering and steam turbines. The books are still used today as standard mechanical engineering reference materials. Link to Power Station Engineering and Economy; Link to Applied Energy Conversion: A Text in Power Plant Engineering
His own professional achievements in science and engineering can be seen in the ongoing accomplishments of the students he strove to mold and develop.
William Vopat received the 1999 Gano Dunn Award and was inducted into The Cooper Union Hall of Fame in 2009. He passed away in August 2000.
References:
Obituary Link
Encyclopedia of Bohemian and Czech-American Biography, Volume 2, “William Arthur Vopat (1910-200)” Link