Rob Marano

Current Position, Organization:
Co-founder, The Hackerati

Relevant Skills:
Negotiations; board governance; finance; HR; communications; higher education; marketing/PR/communication; executive management; fundraising

Professional Qualifications:
Rob has more than 24 years of technology, sales, marketing & general management experience in the software & telecom fields. A a serial entrepreneur, he most recently founded The Hackerati that builds tech for Viacom, HuffPost, Lockheed Martin and other firms. He had also founded InDorse Tech, a major innovator in document security. He served as director of emerging software technologies at PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) Global Technology Centres. He also held senior leadership roles at several successful software startups, including Micromuse/RiverSoft (IBM), and Voyence (EMC). And he was an actual rocket scientist at Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Tech Labs & GE AstroSpace. Rob continues to lecture on engineering, innovation, and entrepreneurship at Cooper Union, NYU, and NYIT. Rob currently hacks in software & hardware for startups and large firms in the US. He serves as a committee member on the Budget Advisory Committee in the Bedford Central School District. And in his spare time, he advises engineering students and alumni of Cooper Union, NYU, and NYIT on startups and the general software industry, as well as hacks hardware using FPGAs and logic gates.

Personal Statement:
I served on the student government while an undergrad then graduated from Cooper Union in 1993 with an electrical engineering bachelor’s degree. I also earned my master’s degree in EE from UPenn. Moreover, I consult on education of engineering and entrepreneurship in business, professional studies, and high school education. It remains my humble opinion that the experience I have developed at Cooper Union as well as at other academic institutions allows me to best understand how to operate an effective and efficient education program. In addition, my business experience has allowed me build sustainable organizations as well as to best understand how to search, vet, and hire top management talent; most recent examples include The Hackerati and InDorse Tech, my last two startups in NYC. For both companies, I not only established each one with my partners, but also searched for key management and board directors. My past experience at PwC includes advising executives as well as board of directors of clients. Given that I have served as president, chief executive officer, chief technology officer, as well as director in my professional career and also have served as VP Faculty/Student Liaison on the Executive Committee of the CUAA for several terms, I believe I have the experience, network, and understanding of leadership, fundraising, and board operations to serve as a Trustee of Cooper Union to firmly ensure a firm, sustainable foundation for our alma mater for many years to come. I believe in our Crimson and Gold as Peter’s Legacy of exceptionalism in art, architecture and engineering education.

Additional Information:

• Served Cooper Union as a student, an educator, an active alumnus, and an employer of our students and alumni
• Believe in continuing Peter’s Legacy as re-establishing the means to ensure that legacy for generations to come
• Dedicated professional who collaborates with all parties for the greater good of our Cooper Union