Rory Cooper Receives 2011 AAAS Mentor Award

Rory Cooper, Distinguished Professor and FISA-Paralyzed Veterans of America Chair in the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology in Pitt’s School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS), has been selected to receive the 2011 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Mentor Award.

The award, which will be presented to Cooper during the Feb. 17 AAAS annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, honors individuals who demonstrate extraordinary leadership in increasing the participation of underrepresented groups in science and engineering. During his time as a Pitt faculty member, Cooper has mentored nearly 100 undergraduate students, 69 master’s degree students, 37 PhD degree students, and 17 postdoctoral fellows; half of these 200-plus students and fellows have come from underrepresented groups.

Cooper came to Pitt in 1994, founding the Human Engineering Research Laboratories. In 1999, the facility became the first, and remains the only, national VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Center of Excellence in Pennsylvania.

Cooper attended California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, where he earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering. He earned his PhD in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He did his postgraduate fellowship at the VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Center in the Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Affairs Hospital in Hines, Ill.

Rory Cooper, Distinguished Professor and FISA-Paralyzed Veterans of America Chair in the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology in Pitt’s School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS), has been selected to receive the 2011 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Mentor Award.

The award, which will be presented to Cooper during the Feb. 17 AAAS annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, honors individuals who demonstrate extraordinary leadership in increasing the participation of underrepresented groups in science and engineering. During his time as a Pitt faculty member, Cooper has mentored nearly 100 undergraduate students, 69 master’s degree students, 37 PhD degree students, and 17 postdoctoral fellows; half of these 200-plus students and fellows have come from underrepresented groups.

Cooper came to Pitt in 1994, founding the Human Engineering Research Laboratories. In 1999, the facility became the first, and remains the only, national VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Center of Excellence in Pennsylvania.

Cooper attended California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, where he earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering. He earned his PhD in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He did his postgraduate fellowship at the VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Center in the Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Affairs Hospital in Hines, Ill.