2021 CUAA Election Recap
The 2021 Election finished on April 30, 2021. 625 alumni voted, including 2 from the Class of 2021. The results will be announced during the May CUAA Council Meeting which will be held on May 19, 2021, via Zoom.
2021 Class Reunions
The classes of 1936, 1941, 1946, 1951, 1961, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016 are celebrating milestone class anniversaries this year. There are dedicated Reunion Class Pages and there will be virtual Class Meet-Ups.
State of the School Virtual Event
All alumni are invited to join CUAA President Margaret Matz AR’83, CU President Laura Sparks, the four deans, and new Board Chair Malcolm King EE’97 on June 3, 2021, at 7pm ET for a Virtual State of the Cooper Union event. Register here. The CUAA First Tuesdays event on June 1, 2021, and a Planned Giving and Financial Planning Webinar on June 17, 2021, are also part of the current schedule of events. To learn more, follow this link.
Upcoming Events
5/19/2021 May CUAA Council Meeting
6/1/2021 CUAA First Tuesdays | Recollections of Green Camp
6/3/2021 Virtual State of the Cooper Union
6/8/2021 CUAA Alumni Showcase | My Robot Gets Me
6/17/2021 Planned Giving and Financial Planning Webinar
Recent Event Recaps
CUAA Awards Ceremony was held on February 10, 2021
A description of the event is available here. The video of the 2021 CUAA Awards Ceremony is available here
Celebrating Women’s History Month
On March 25, 2021, the Albert Nerken School of Engineering Dean’s Office and the Cooper Union chapter of the Society of Women Engineers celebrated Women’s History Month with a panel of women alumnae who shared with current students their experiences at Cooper Union and beyond. The panelists, CUAA Secretary Anna Brook BSE’04, Shannon Spence CE’96, Anamaria Bonilla CE’96, and Gina Magnotti ME’11 spoke about their careers in intellectual property law, water and wastewater reclamation, transportation, and research in the automotive and aerospace fields. Despite these different paths after graduation, all panelists agreed that a Cooper Union education prepared them to overcome any challenges in their professional lives.
The alumnae spoke about the experience of being one of a few females in a classroom and in professional settings and highlighted the importance of mentorship. The panelists answered questions regarding career planning and highlights of their time at Cooper Union. Lisa Shay, Associate Dean for Educational Innovation, moderated the panel and current EE junior Alexa Jakob asked questions from the audience.
Celebrating Women’s History Month, Part 2
The CUAA celebrated the pioneering female alumni who are in the CU Hall of Fame and who graduated prior to 1950. Learn More
Other Recent CUAA Events
January
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First Tuesdays | Trivia Night: The Sequel! – Another evening of fun competition through five rounds of questions on a variety of topics.
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Alumni Showcase | NYC Future Perfect: Wind Power and the Waterfront – Karen Bausman AR’82 gave a talk on a new project to develop one of the largest offshore wind farms in the world supporting a manufacturing base located in New York City.
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February
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First Tuesdays | Talk and Toast: A Trip Through the Peter Cooper Archives – Part of the Cooper Together 2021 Global Block Party, this event featured Lisa Norberg, Director of The Cooper Union Library, sharing some of the rare, unique, and fantastic manuscripts and materials that document the life of Peter Cooper. Watch recording.
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Alumni Showcase | Art & Influence: Don Kunz – This featured the work of Cooper Union alumni who studied with the late Don Kunz, Professor of Painting and Calligraphy at Cooper Union between 1969 and 2001. Watch recording.
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March
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First Tuesdays | The Art of Trivia – This art-themed trivia night featured several rounds about the visual arts (including some specifically related to Cooper Union).
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Alumni Showcase | Found in Space – Larry Hausman EE’94 shared his experiences of working on some rather interesting NASA projects. Watch recording.
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April
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First Tuesdays | Trivia Night: Season Finale! – This final trivia night was a free-for-all with five fun/challenging/informative rounds of questions covering a multitude of random topics.
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Alumni Showcase | Growing Up Ugly –This featured James H. Rolling, Jr., A’88 discussing his latest book, “Growing Up Ugly: Memoirs of a Black Boy Daydreaming,” and its deeper implications about fostering personal resilience and social renaissance after crisis. Watch recording.
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Alumni Excursion | CUAA@Green-Wood – Barry Drogin EE’83 led a virtual visit to the Cooper and Hewitt family grave site at Green-Wood Cemetery, including the Peter Cooper monument, the Abram Hewitt column, and the gravestones of other members of the Cooper/Hewitt families.
School News
End of Year Show
2021 is the second year that the End of Year Show will be virtual. Learn about the end of year shows for each school, and other end of year events, here.
Sean West Sculley: 1939-2021
The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture announced the passing of former faculty member Sean West Sculley, who died on March 23, 2021. During his forty-seven-year tenure as a faculty member at the Cooper Union, Sean taught all five undergraduate design studios, most notably Design II and Thesis, and several Theory of Landscape Architecture seminars. Learn More
Commencement
The Cooper Union’s 161st Commencement will be on Wednesday, May 26, 2021. Graduation information for both 2020 and 2021 graduates can be found here. The Commencement will be a mixture of in-person and virtual activities. The speakers will speak virtually. The invited commencement speaker is alumna Wangechi Mutu A’96.
School Newsletters and Social Media
Each of three schools at The Cooper Union has a newsletter created by the Dean’s Office for that school. If you are not already subscribing, you may wish to. Here is a form for subscribing to school newsletters. The March 2021 issue of the Engineering School newsletter is available here.
Both the Engineering School and the Art School have Face book pages which you are invited to follow.
CU MotorSports
2021 CU Motorsports test drive at Jones Beach State Park, March 6 2021. Students shown are Julia and Pia
The FSAE Competition, that usually occurs in May, will be held this year, July 7-10, 2021 in Brooklyn, Michigan. The Cooper Union team will be competing with what they believe to be the last car that they build with an internal combustion engine (ICE). Alumni who wish to attend the Michigan competition, can contact the team by sending an email to motorsports@cooper.edu. To see photos of the 2021 Car, visit the team Facebook page. The team is already designing an Electric Vehicle (EV) to compete with next year.
ALUMNI NEWS
Alumni accomplishments are featured on our website, Alumni News
Share your accomplishments by posting them on The Official CUAA FaceBook page, or emailing them to contact@cooperalumni.org
In Memoriam
Sadly, many alumni passed away during 2021. See who we have lost: 2021 in Memoriam
Useful Links
| Alumni Directory |Cooper Union Faculty & Staff Directory | CUAA Meetings | Hall of Fame | Trustee Reports | Faculty-Student Senate Reports | Engineering Student Council Reports |In-Memoriam|
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