UpDate - Vol. 12, No. 3, Page 1
September 17, 1992
Stuart L. Cooper named engineering college dean
Stuart L. Cooper, the Paul A. Elfers Professor of Chemical
Engineering at the University of Wisconsin, has been named dean of the
University of Delaware's College of Engineering, University Provost R.
Byron Pipes announced today.
Cooper's appointment, which is effective Jan. 1, follows a
nationwide search that drew more than 100 applications and
nominations.
"Stuart Cooper brings to the University of Delaware an
outstanding and extensive record of research, a demonstrated
commitment to students and teaching and a solid background of
administrative service," Pipes said. "He is preeminently qualified to
guide the College of Engineering."
"I look forward to working with Dr. Cooper as he takes over the
leadership of our College of Engineering," University President David
P. Roselle said. "The third largest of our 10 colleges, the College of
Engineering is a research leader, attracting some $11 million in
funding last year. Dr. Cooper has both the expertise and enthusiasm to
lead this important college into the 21st century."
Stanley I. Sandler, Henry Belin du Pont Professor of Chemical
Engineering, will continue to serve as interim dean until Cooper's
appointment takes effect. The post became available in May 1991, when
the college's previous dean, R. Byron Pipes, was selected as
University provost.
The College of Engineering has 74 faculty members, and its
enrollment for fall 1991 totaled 381 graduate students and 977
undergraduates.
The dean is responsible for the academic and administrative
leadership of the college, which has four departments-chemical
engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering and mechanical
engineering, as well as Air Force ROTC, the Center for Composite
Materials, Center for Catalytic Science and Technology, Center for
Applied Coastal Research, Center for Molecular and Engineering
Thermodynamics, Delaware Transportation Center, Orthopedics and
Biomechanical Engineering Center and an interdepartmental Materials
Science Program.
Cooper, 51, who holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering
from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a doctorate in
chemical engineering from Princeton University, joined the faculty of
the University of Wisconsin in 1967 as an assistant professor. He was
named an associate professor in 1971, full professor in 1974 and Paul
A. Elfers Professor in 1989. From 1983-89, he chaired the Department
of Chemical Engineering.
At Wisconsin, he has been active on several university- and
college-wide committees, and he provided research direction to 36
Ph.D. candidates and more than 20 master's degree candidates.
He also has served as visiting professor at the University of
California at Berkeley, Technion University in Israel and Universite
Paris-Nord.
His research interests include polymer science and engineering,
structure-property relations of polyurethanes, ionomers and block
polymers, mechanical and dielectric spectroscopy, X-ray scattering,
EXAFS analysis of ion containing polymers, polyurethane biomaterials
and blood-material interactions.
Cooper has presented invited research seminars at universities
and industrial centers around the world. He holds three patents and
has served as a consultant to numerous companies, including Du Pont,
Dow Chemical and Cellular Transplants Inc.
His research has been supported by the National Science
Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart
Association, the Army Research Office, the Navy and the Department of
Energy, as well as several corporations.
Listed in America's Men and Women of Science and Who's Who in
America, Cooper has received several honors, including the Materials
Engineering and Sciences Division Award from the American Institute of
Chemical Engineers and the Clemson Award for Basic Research from the
Society for Biomaterials.
Cooper is active in numerous professional societies, such as the
American Chemical Society, the American Physical Society, of which he
is a fellow, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Society of
Plastics Engineers, the American Society for Artificial and Internal
Organs and the Society for Biomaterials.
He has served on many national advisory boards and panels.
The co-founding editor of the Journal of Biomaterials Science,
Polymer Edition, he currently serves on five editorial advisory
boards: Biomaterials, the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research,
the Journal of Macromolecular Science, Polymer Physics Edition,
Polymer Bulletin, and Biomedical Science and Technology.
Cooper is the author or co-author of more than 200 articles in
professional journals and 40 review articles and book chapters. The
co-author of the book Polyurethanes in Medicine, he is co-editor of
three books: Multiphase Polymers, Biomaterials: Interfacial Phenomena
and Applications and The Vroman Effect in Medicine.
The search committee for the dean of the College of Engineering
was chaired by Kenneth R. Biederman, dean of the College of Business
and Economics. Other members were Roberta Colman, chemistry and
biochemistry; Robert G. Hunsperger, electrical engineering; Nobuhisa
Kobayashi, civil engineering; Michael Santare, mechanical engineering;
Andrew L. Zydney, chemical engineering; and Ronald F. Whittington,
assistant to the president, who served as acting director of the RISE
(Resources to Insure Successful Engineers) Program in the college.