CUAA Award Nominations
A very big “Thank you” is extended to all who submitted nominations. The Nomination period ended, November 15, 2017. The Award committees are now beginning their work. Winners will be announced the week of Founder’s Day in February 2018.
CUAA Election Nominations
A few days remain to volunteer yourself or nominate someone else to run for a position on the Alumni Association Council in the Spring 2018 election. We need you and your Cooper friends to be active and support the school; we need volunteers to help fund-raise for the school to aid in getting us Back to Free, run the Alumni Association, improve alumni engagement, and more.
Irma Giustino Weiss Challenge
This year, the Annual Fund committee is incredibly grateful and excited about a matching grant made possible through a generous bequest by alumna Irma Giustino Weiss (Art ‘45). The Irma Giustino Weiss Challenge doubles all new or increased contributions to Cooper Union, up to $4 million, to directly support Cooper students through an endowed scholarship fund. The CUAA encourages all alumni to make a new or increased gift to the Annual Fund this fiscal year (ending in June 2018), to take advantage of Irma Weiss’s generous gift. Thank you! Learn More
Give Now
School News
Adriana Farmiga A’96, is named Assistant Dean of the School of Art.
What Adriana enjoys most about teaching and working at Cooper is the palpable sense of community. She shares these reflections.
“Sense of Community” reads like a talking point, but I don’t really care; it’s true. Community and engagement is what brought us- faculty, students, alumni- closer together, and pushed us through some challenging times during the last 6 years. It’s safe to say that the sense of community a student feels while at Cooper, only amplifies over time, and as they continue on, into “Life.” Being able to share the responsibility of stewardship with Dean Essl (Mike) in the School of Art, is something I’m really looking forward to. Mike is as much a mentor to me, as he is a colleague and friend. The work I’ve done prior to coming back to teach at Cooper reflected my interests in problem solving with folks in meaningful (and sometimes strange and unconventional) ways: from working at the Peter Norton Family Foundation/Collection, to advising on programming for non-profit spaces (including a collaboration I helped bring with with Cooper and La Mama), to production designing for independent films. I credit Cooper for allowing me to examine my practice- in and out of the studio, from gallery shows to the classroom- in truly elastic ways.
Adriana has been a member of the faculty since 2011. Learn More
Cooper Union Chemical Engineers Attend AICHE National Meeting in Minnesota
Members of the 2017 CC Chem-E-Car team
Professor Dan Lepek ChE’04 accompanied 8 Cooper undergraduate and 3 graduate students to Minneapolis, MN. This included 7 members of the Chem-E-Car team and the famous Lemon-Aid Car. Michael Lange ChE’18 placed 3rd Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology division of the poster competition. Monica Abdallah ChE’17 and Ryan Smith ChE’17, both current masters degree candidates, participated in the first annual AIChE Beer Brewing Competition. Chae Jeong ChE’17 was a panelist on the Women in Chemical Engineering Initiatives Committee panel on Graduate programs in Chemical Engineering and she presented a paper (co-authored with Professor Davis) titled, “Economic and Environmental Evaluation of Olive Mill Wastewater Treatment Methods for a Self-Supplied American Olive Oil Mill. Kristine Chin ChE’94, AIChE Director of Conferences, was also present .
40 teams participated in the 2017 Annual Chem-E-Car Competition® in Minneapolis on October 29th. They had all previously won first or second place in the regional competitions. The Cooper Union came in 5th place during this international competition. Learn More
Cooper Union Motorsports team Practices on K-cart Driving Range and begins assembly of 2018 FSAE Car
On November 2nd, the Motorsports team took the 2017 car to Oakland Valley Race Park in Cuddebackville, NY for some driving practice. The Cooper Motorsports team has begun the manufacturing phase of the 2018 car. The tubing used for constructing the frame has arrived in the shop and welding is underway. The 2017 car is still up and running, but it will be dissembled once the the chassis for the 2018 car is complete. The team has registered for FSAE competition! The 2018 car number is 89. For those who are interested in visiting the team in Michigan, the competition runs from May 9th to the 12th at the Michigan International Speedway. If you’re interested in helping the team with a donation, please select Cooper Motorsports when giving to Cooper. The team makes every penny count! Give Now,
The Cooper Union Page on LinkedIn shows that 8577 CU Alumni are on LinkedIn.
Click Here. And then click on . You can get a wealth of information about where Cooper alumni live and work. You can also see which companies have hired alumni in large numbers and in what fields alumni work. Following the Cooper Union LinkedIn page allows Cooper Stories to appear in your news feed. Being a follower of that page is not enough to find classmates or alumni with common interests. We encourage you to also join the CUAA group on LinkedIn so we can better use this tool for networking. The CUAA Group is a Featured group on the Cooper Union Page. You can also use this link to CUAA Group.
Recent Events
November 16 Council Meeting
The November Council meeting was held in room 215 of the Foundation Building. 24 CUAA Council members, 20 guests and 2 members of the CU staff were present. The evening began at 6:15 PM with a presentation by DeVonn Francis A’15. DeVonn is the owner of a catering company and he brought sandwiches for the audience made with freshly baked nan bread and flavored with Jamaican curry. DeVonn explained how he uses food to express his cultural identity, to bring people together, to teach people how food is grown, and to improve lives. He is improving the lives of people traditionally discriminated against including those of color, women, and gays. Following the lecture, the council meeting was held.
CUAA President Paul Nikulin CE’06 opened the meeting and made general announcements. Annual Fund Chair, Carol Wolf A’84 and CU Director of Gift Planning Peter Congleton gave an explanation of the Irma Weiss Challenge. Some highlights of the challenge include that it is a 100% match for that donated by any donor who did not give last year, and a 100% match of any increase over what a donor gave last year for repeat donors. The match funds go into a scholarship endowment fund. So far, this year, 300 alumni donations have been matched. Nomination Committee Chair, Susan Shaw A’72 reported that the nominating committee has met once so far. She said that so far, the number of nominations received is small and she encourages everyone to nominate alumni for council seats and officer positions. The deadline for nominations is December 1. Susan Shaw also mentioned that the nominating committee would like to hear alumni thoughts on what qualities they feel are important for alumni trustees to have. Send your thoughts to contact@cooperalumni.org with the subject, Trustee Qualities.
Paul Nikulin mentioned a new CUAA /Student Council project. It is an easy to use webpage for connecting students with alumni for career networking. He envisions a page where a student or alumni could enter the field, company or location that they would like to learn more about. Then an alumni volunteer on the CUAA membership committee will match them with an appropriate alum. We will use LinkedIn as a tool for this matching. The CUAA LinkedIn Group is now linked to The Cooper Union LinkedIn page. Paul Nikulin made a plea for people to begin working on the 2018 Block Party. He also made a plea for volunteers to work on the communications committee. There is an urgent need for people to help with the A/V equipment during council meetings.
The upcoming events include a Meet the Trustees event on 12/12/17, A holiday party on 12/14/17. VP Alumni Affairs, Kelly Occhiuzzo Zack A’90, asked alumni to suggest more casual events. Christina Aguirre-Ross AR’81 suggested a trip to see the Glass House. She volunteered to organize this. Chair of the Awards Committee, Laura Spinner A’89, announced that the Founder’s Day Award winners will be announced on February 8th, 2018. She is looking for volunteers to design the announcement and help with publicity. Kierston Mercado A’19 announced that the Art Student Council and the Archive & Exhibition Club will be screening The Ivory Tower on December 8th, in Rose Auditorium at 6:30 PM. Alumni are invited. For new business, Barry Drogin EE’83 asked if the on-line alumni directory will be updated soon. David Minder, Director of Alumni Engagement, said that this is being discussed. There are some privacy concerns that need resolving. Barry Drogin also had a suggestion for the 2018 Block Party. He would like to see more of the booths focus on the community, in addition to students. The meeting ended at 8:17 PM. The next Council meeting will be held on January 9, 2018.
Reconstruir
An Art show was held in the 41 Cooper Square Gallery to support the rebuilding efforts in Rural Mexican Communities on Saturday, November 4th from 6 to 10 pm. The event was organized by Adjunct Professor, Alva Mooses A’05, Mauricio Cortes A’12 and Filipe Baeza A’09 in collaboration with MCINY, Bruxo Mezcal and Insa Korean BBQ & Karaoke. More than 60 artists donated work including more than 30 Cooper Alumni. Over $11,000. was raised. Read more.
FEC Panel Discussion
38 alumni and staff gathered in Rose Auditorium on 10-11-2017 to hear from the Free Education Committee which is a BOT committee charged with finding a path back to free tuition. The Panel was composed of Free Education Committee members: Paul Nikulin CE’06, President CUAA & Trustee; Eric Hirschhorn ME’89, Trustee; Robert Tan AR’81, Alumni Trustee; Rachel Warren, Chair, The Cooper Union Board of Trustees; Laura Sparks, President, The Cooper Union. The Panel Discussion began at 6:15 PM with a welcome message from the Board of Trustees Chair, Rachel Warren.
Mock Interview Night
20 alumni and several members of the Alumni office participated in Mock Interview night on October 5th. The event was held in the Offices of CU Development and Alumni Services at 30 Cooper Square and was organized by CU Career Services. The evening included networking with light refreshments. This was followed by interview sessions. Each student and alumnus participated in 3 interviews.
CU@Roses’ Taproom
More than 50 alumni and friends of the Bay Area Regional Group met Cooper Union alumni Huffard and Janson at their brewery, Rose’s Taproom on October 26, 2017.
Do you have an idea for an alumni event? Casual events can be initiated by any alum. Send your idea to the attention of Hope Wade, Events Committee Chair; and Kelly Occhiuzzo Zack ,VP alumni Affairs at Contact@cooperalumni.org
Alumni, friends and family joined members of the All Souls congregation for the Annual Henry Whitney Bellows Lecture at the All Souls Church/NYC on November 9, 2017 at 1157 Lexington Avenue, NYC. The evening included a screening of Mechanic to Millionaire: The Peter Cooper Story, followed by remarks from Janet Gardner A’65 Producer/Director. Peter Cooper was once a member of this congregation and he is fondly remembered there.
Harvest Feast
The 3rd Annual harvest Feast was held on Tuesday preceding Thanksgiving. The Students prepared most of the food for a holiday dinner served to the students in Frankie’s Café at 8 PM. Alumni participated by supplying and serving pie. The alumni effort was coordinated by Kelly Occhiuzzo Zack ,VP alumni Affairs. She was assisted by Mary Lynch ChE’82 and James Vasquez AR’79.
Alumni in the News
Alumni accomplishments featured prominently on CUAA website… Please take a look!
Additional accomplishments are featured on the Class Notes section of the Cooper website.
Alumni Profiles
Steve Broder A’76
Steve Brodner has been a satirical illustrator and caricaturist and political commentator working for publications in the US since the 1970s. He is accepted in the fields of journalism and the graphic arts as a master of the editorial idiom.
After getting his BFA at Cooper Union in 1976, Steve Brodner became editorial cartoonist at The Hudson Dispatch, in Union City, New Jersey. In 1977 Steven Heller, art director of The New York Times Book Review, began tapping him for illustration assignments, beginning a freelance illustration career that would span over four decades. Read More
Paul Claude Gardère A’67
Paul Claude Gardère was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 1944 and emigrated to New York City in 1959 at age fourteen. He earned his undergraduate degree from The Cooper Union School of Art in 1967. He adapted Haitian regionalist ideas, painting styles, and cultural symbols to the larger aesthetics of Modern art. Paul Gardère’s personal experiences of immigration, race, and class drive are conveyed in his work. Paul Gardère completed residencies at The Studio Museum in Harlem, the Jamaica Arts Center, Long Island University, and a 5-month tenure at the gardens of Claude Monet in Giverny, France courtesy of the Lila Acheson Wallace Foundation. He received a fellowship from the New York Foundation for The Arts and received the Joan Mitchell Foundation Award for Painting. Paul Gardère’s solo exhibitions include shows at Le Centre d’Art and Le Musee d’Art Haitien, the Figge Art Museum, the Jersey City Museum, Lehigh University, and Skoto Gallery. Paul passed away in 2011. Paul’s work is on display in New York City at the Skoto gallery in Chelsea 12/07/17 through 01/20/18. Read More
Vincent Longo A’46
Vincent Longo was born in New York City in 1923. He was a painter, printmaker, and teacher. He died on September 4, 2017 at home in Amagansett after a long illness. He was 94 years old.
Vincent Longo graduated from The Cooper Union in 1946 and the Brooklyn Museum School in 1950. In 1951, he received a Fulbright grant which he used to travel to Italy. Vincent Longo taught printmaking at the Brooklyn Museum School and at Bennington Collage.
Vincent was an acclaimed printmaker, his work is in major museum collections, including those of the Museum of Modern Art, Biblioteque National and Metropolitan Museum of art. Vincent Longo taught at Bennington College (1957-67) and Hunter College (1967-2001) where he was the Phyllis and Joseph Caroff Chair of Fine Arts. Read More
Sadly we have lost several alumni during 2017.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Student Exhibitions
Student exhibitions (one week in length) open each Tuesday during November and early December. Opening celebrations are held from 6 to 8 PM. Exhibitions are in the 1st floor colonnade and in the lobby spaces of selected floors within the Foundation Building. The links here give the names of the students and samples of the work.
| November 7th | November 14th | November 28th | December 5th | December 12th
11-30-17 CU On Wall Street Fall Social
This annual event will be held from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. at The Copper Still, 151 2nd Ave , btw 9th and 10th Street, New York, NY 10003
Kindly RSVP by Tuesday, November 28 Learn More
12 – 08-17 COOPER in Miami
The Cooper Union welcomes alumni and friends to meet President Laura Sparks and the new Assistant Dean of the School of Art, Adriana Farmiga A’96. Join them for a private, invitation-only event at the Rubell Family Collection, to hear about new developments in the School of Art and for a conversation with Director Juan Roselione-Valadez A’99, and other notable alumni: Brian Booth A’98, David Brooks A’00, Benjamin Degen A’98, Hope Gangloff A’97, Aramis Gutierrez A’98, and Yuri Masnyj A’98. Event is from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Rubell Family Collection
95 NW 29th St
Miami, FL 33127
Limited space is available – sign up today
12-08-17 Ivory Tower Screening
The Art Student Council & the Archive and Exhibition Club will host a screening of Ivory Tower in Rose Auditorium at 6:30 pm on December 8th. Several CU Alumni appear in this movie. Alumni are invited to the screening. The event is free. Souvenirs will be available. Proceeds will go to the archives.
12-14-17 ANNUAL HOLIDAY PARTY 2017
6PM till……
Where: Phebe’s Tavern & Grill; 359 Bowery; New York, NY 10003
01-09-18 CUAA Council Meeting Save the date
02-06-18 Presidential Inauguration
Laura Sparks will be inaugurated as the 13th President of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City. More details will follow, including a week-long schedule of public programming and community events. Learn More
Social Media
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Useful Links
Past issues of the CUAA newsletter
All editions of the CU Student Newspaper, The Pioneer, can be read on-line. http://pioneer.cooper.edu
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