Oral history interview with Rory Cooper
- 2017-Jun-22
- 2017-Jun-23
Oral history interview with Rory Cooper
- 2017-Jun-22
- 2017-Jun-23
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.Rory Cooper was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1959 and grew up in San Luis Obispo, California. His father was a model maker, in the United States Army Reserve, and later, a professor of biology and agriculture at the California State Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo. His parents owned an automobile machine shop in San Luis Obispo, where his mother maintained the business. Cooper worked at the shop as a child and became interested in engineering. He has a younger sister and a younger brother, who also became engineers. He also enjoyed outdoor activities by joining Boy Scouts, becoming an Eagle Scout, and engaging in track and cross-country activities, wrestling, and chess. After he was diagnosed as having a “reading difficulty” (dyslexia) and astigmatism, his studies improved. After graduating high school in 1977, Cooper immediately joined the Army. After a series of training, he was assigned to Germany, where he met his future wife, who is German, in 1979. In 1980, he had a traffic accident while riding a bicycle, injured his spinal cord, and became a wheelchair user. He was rehabilitated in Santa Barbara and the Sepulveda VA Medical Center, California, and enrolled in a BS program in Electrical Engineering at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in 1981. Cooper was the first wheelchair user enrolled in the electrical engineering program. Because the facility was not accessible, the team of faculty members worked with him to make the laboratories more accessible. He also gained support from fellow veteran students and the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) at the university. During his undergraduate education, Cooper also had a consultant role with Equalizer Wheelchair Company in 1981 and started Cooper Engineering Company in 1982. He graduated with a master’s degree in engineering and went to the PhD program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He played wheelchair basketball, and this involvement led him to work with disability rights advocacy leaders Judith E. Heumann and Edward V. Roberts. Toward the end of his PhD, he participated in the 1988 Paralympics in Seoul, South Korea, where he participated wheelchair racing. Cooper’s dissertation topic was the optimization of wheelchair racing performance.
After graduation, he became an assistant professor at California State University, Sacramento in 1989 where he taught rehabilitation engineering, robotics, control systems, and medical instrumentation. In 1994, Cooper became an associate visiting professor at the University of Pittsburgh, where he established the Human Engineering Research Laboratories (HERL). In the interview, he explains how he has been working with his peers in wheelchair racing and with wheelchair makers, sharing ideas to make wheelchairs that meet the needs of users, as well as how his childhood experience in his parents’ automotive machine shop became the basis of his work. He ends the interview by explaining how HERL has produced pioneering engineers in the field, indicating that STEM education can offer opportunities to people with disabilities, including veterans with disabilities.
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About the Interviewers
Jessica L. Martucci earned her master’s degree in bioethics and her Ph.D. in the history and sociology of science at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of numerous scholarly and popular works, including her book Back to the Breast: Natural Motherhood and Breastfeeding America (University of Chicago Press, 2015). She was the lead researcher behind the Science History Institute’s Science and Disability Project, which is part of her broader interest in understanding the mechanisms and effects of exclusion and inclusion in science, medicine, and public history.
Gregory S. Waters was a program assistant in the Center for Oral History. He received a BA in history and American Studies and a master’s degree in American history with a concentration in public history from Arizona State University. He now works as a curator at the National Medal of Honor Museum.
Institutional location
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| Oral history number | 1066 |
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Interviewee biographical information
| Born |
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Education
| Year | Institution | Degree | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo | BS | Electrical Engineering |
| 1986 | California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo | MEng | Electrical Engineering |
| 1989 | University of California, Santa Barbara | PhD | Electrical and Computer Engineering |
Professional Experience
United States. Army
- 1976 to 1982 Soldier
Eurosprachschule Institute for Language Studies
- 1977 to 1980 Language Instructor
Equalizer Wheelchair Company, Inc.
- 1981 to 1982 Language Instructor
Cooper Engineering Company
- 1982 to 1985 Design Engineer
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
- 1985 to 1986 Lecturer
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
- 1985 to 1986 Engineer, Instrumentation and Controls Group
University of California, Santa Barbara
- 1986 to 1988 Teaching Assistant, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
- 1988 to 1989 Research Assistant, Institute of Environmental Stress & Control Systems Lab
California State University, Sacramento
- 1989 to 1991 Assistant Professor, Assistive Device Center
- 1989 to 1991 Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering Program
- 1990 to 1994 Director, Human Engineering Laboratory
- 1990 to 1994 Coordinator, Rehabilitation Engineering Program
- 1991 to 1992 Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering Program
- 1992 to 1994 Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering Program
Edward Hines Jr. Hospitable Rehabilitation Research and Development Center
- 1990 to 1995 Research Scientist, Rehabilitation Research and Design Center
University of Pittsburgh
- 1994 Associate Visiting Professor
- 1994 Founding Director, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, and School of Medicine, Human Engineering Research Laboratories
- 1994 to 1997 Director, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Rehabilitation Engineer Program, Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology
- 1994 to 1995 Associate Professor, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology
- 1994 to 1998 Associate Professor with Tenure, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology
- 1997 to 2018 Chairman of School, Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology
- 1998 to present Professor, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology
- 1998 to present Professor, School of Engineering, Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Bioengineering
- 2004 to present Distinguished Professor, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology
- 2004 to present FISA/PVA Endowed Professor, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology
- 2016 to 2020 Associate Dean, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
- 2021 to present Assistant Vice-Chancellor, Research for STEM and Health Sciences Collaboration, Office of the Senior Vice-Chancellor for Research
Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System
- 1994 to present Principal Investigator
Carnegie Mellon University
- 1995 to 1996 Associate Professo, Department of Design
- 2007 Professor, Robotics Institute, School of Computer Science
University of Pittsburgh. Medical Center
- 1995 to 1998 Associate Professor, School of Medicine, Department of Orthopedic Surgery
- 1998 to present Professor, School of Medicine, Department of Orthopedic Surgery
United States. Department of Veterans Affairs
- 1999 to present Center Director, Center of Excellence for Wheelchair and Related Technology, VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Service
- 2000 to present Senior Research Career Scientist, VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Service
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
- 2016 to present Professor, School of Medicine, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Honors
| Year(s) | Award |
|---|---|
| 1980 | KONTAKT Europe High Achievement Award |
| 1984 | San Luis Obispo Bicentennial Medal and Proclamation of Wheelchair Athlete Day |
| 1990 | National Wheelchair Athletic Association Service Award |
| 1992 | CSUS President’s Award for Outstanding Research |
| 1993 | IEEE-EMBS Early Career Achievement Award |
| 1997 | KPVA John Farkas Leadership Award |
| 1998 | LaRoche College Thanksgiving Tuesday Award |
| 1998 | Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Fellow |
| 1998 | American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) Fellow |
| 1999 | California Polytechnic State University College of Engineering 1999 Honored Alumnus |
| 2001 | Dion Johnson Foundation Spinal Cord Injury Research Award |
| 2001 | IEEE-USA Professional Leadership Award |
| 2001 | Honorary Professorship, Jockey Club Rehabilitation Engineering Centre and Department of Health Technology Informatics |
| 2002 | US Department of Veterans Affairs Olin E. Teague Award |
| 2002 | Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) Mentor Award |
| 2002 | Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) Fellow |
| 2002 | Best Paper for Research in Multiple Sclerosis |
| 2003 | The Cool Engineer of the Month, November, Junior Engineering Technical Society |
| 2003 | U.S. Department of Veterans Affair, Rehabilitation Research and Development Service, Paul B. Magnuson Award |
| 2004 | Excellence Award, American Paraplegia Society |
| 2005 | Maxwell J. Schleifer Distinguished Service Award, Exceptional Parent Magazine |
| 2005 | Leadership Award, Department of Rehabilitation Science & Technology, Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America |
| 2005 | Chancellor’s Affirmative Action Award, Department of Rehabilitation Science & Technology |
| 2005 | 2004 Best Paper Award Presented by Liberty Mutual & International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics |
| 2005 | Flag of the United States of America Flown over the Pentagon Building and accompanying Certificate of Appreciation |
| 2005 | National Spinal Cord Injury Association (NSCIA) “Hall of Fame” |
| 2005 | James J. Peters Lecture Award, American Paraplegia Society |
| 2005 | Honorary Professorship, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China |
| 2006 | Certificate of Appreciation from the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health |
| 2007 | Power of Work Award, Goodwill Industries of Western, Pennsylvania |
| 2007 | Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) Elected Fellow |
| 2007 | da Vinci Lifetime Achievement Award, National MS Society, Michigan Chapter |
| 2007 | Certificate of Appreciation from the Marine for Life Program, United States Marine Corps |
| 2008 | Disabled Veteran of the Year 2007, Veterans Community Initiatives, Veterans Leadership Program of Western Pennsylvania |
| 2009 | Flag of the United States of America Flown over Walter Reed Army Medical Center and accompanying Certificate of Appreciation |
| 2009 | Veteran of the Year, Veterans Leadership Program |
| 2009 | Community Hero Award, United Cerebral Palsy of Allegheny County |
| 2009 | TRCIL Senator John Heinz Memorial Award, Three Rivers Center for Independent Living |
| 2009 | Outstanding Civilian Service Medal, Headquarters, Medical Command, Department of the Army |
| 2009 | Commander’s Award for Public Service, Walter Reed Healthcare System, Dept. of the Army |
| 2009 | Wall of Sports Fame, Heinz History Center in association with the Smithsonian Institute |
| 2009 | Proclamation of House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
| 2009 | Proclamation of Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
| 2009 | Angel of Change Award, Easter Seals of Western Pennsylvania |
| 2010 | Order of Military Medical Merit, Membership #8650 |
| 2010 | The Pennsylvania Meritorious Service Medal, The Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
| 2010 | Proclamation of Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
| 2010 | Legion of Honor, Chapel of the Four Chaplains |
| 2010 | First Place in the Technical Text Category for “Care of the Combat Amputee,” The Washington Book Publishers’ 2010 Book Design & Effectiveness Competition |
| 2010 | Distinguished Alumni Speaker, California Polytechnic State University, Department of Electrical Engineering Spring Banquet |
| 2010 | Proclamation of Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
| 2010 | Outstanding Researcher Award, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System |
| 2010 | Community Cornerstone Award, Boy Scouts of America |
| 2010 | Unbeaten Award |
| 2010 | Certificate of Appreciation, Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs |
| 2011 | Distinguished Civilian Service Award, U.S. Army |
| 2011 | Cliff Crase Award for Professionalism from Paralyzed Veterans of America |
| 2011 | Hall of Fame, Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
| 2011 | Outstanding Leadership Award, National Veterans Wheelchair Games |
| 2011 | Proclamation of Senate of the United States of America |
| 2011 | Flag of the United States of America Flown over VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Highland Drive Campus |
| 2011 | Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Public Service |
| 2012 | Distinguished Service Award, Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology Society of North America |
| 2012 | Pitt Innovator Award |
| 2012 | Certificate of Appreciation and Honorary Member of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, United States Army, Vilseck |
| 2012 | Distinguished Friend, Family and Morale, Welfare & Recreation, United States Army Garrison Grafenwoehr |
| 2012 | Mentor Award, American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| 2013 | Paralympic Sports Science Award, International Paralympic Committee |
| 2013 | Secretary’s Award for Diversity and Inclusion, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs |
| 2013 | Outstanding Civilian Service Medal, U.S. Army War College |
| 2013 | Navy Meritorious Public Service Medal, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center |
| 2013 | Secretary of Veterans Affairs Certificate of Appreciation, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs |
| 2013 | Power of Work Award, Goodwill of Southwest Pennsylvania |
| 2013 | Top Professor, Lifetime Achievement, Affordable Colleges Online |
| 2013 | Pitt Innovator Award |
| 2014 | Joseph Engelberger Award, Robotics Industry Association |
| 2014 | Henry Viscardi Achievement Award |
| 2014 | Legion of Honor Bronze Medal, Chapel of the Four Chaplains |
| 2014 | Inaugural AAAS, Lemelson Invention Ambassador |
| 2014 | Bronze Order of Mercury, Signal Corps Regimental Association |
| 2014 | First National Resilience Award, Disabled Veterans National Foundation |
| 2014 | Pitt Innovator Award |
| 2015 | Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Medal |
| 2015 | Fellow, National Academy of Inventors |
| 2015 | Catalyst Award, Carnegie Science Center |
| 2015 | Friend and Patriot Award, Soldiers & Sailors Museum of Pittsburgh |
| 2015 | Pitt Innovator Award |
| 2016 | Honorary Doctorate, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China |
| 2016 | Humanitarian Service Award, Central Rehabilitation Centre, Dublin, Ireland |
| 2016 | Minute Man Award, National Guard Bureau |
| 2016 | Seven Seals Award, Employers Support Guard and Reserve |
| 2016 | Liberty Bell Award, 28th Infantry Division |
| 2016 | Marlin Mickle Innovation Award, University of Pittsburgh |
| 2016 | Pitt Innovator Award |
| 2017 | Blackwood Design Award |
| 2017 | Vanguard Award and National Guard Bureau Leadership Forum Lecture, Army National Guard, National Guard Bureau |
| 2017 | Patriot Award, First Recruiting Battalion, US Army Recruiting Command |
| 2017 | Samuel E. Heyman Service to America Medal |
| 2017 | Order of Saint Maurice (Civis), National Infantry Association |
| 2017 | Susan M. Daniels Disability Mentoring Hall of Fame, National Disability Mentoring Coalition (NDMC) |
| 2018 | Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| 2018 | Overseas Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine |
| 2018 | Advocacy Award, American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering: For outstanding contributions to the field of bioengineering in the service of the public good |
| 2018 | Pennsylvania Meritorious Service Medal |
| 2018 | O’s 2018 Health Heroes, Oprah Winfrey’s “O” Magazine |
| 2018 | Profiles in Success, Meet Eagles at the Top of their Game: Eagles’ Call, National Eagle Scout Association |
| 2018 | Neighborhood Hero; Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra |
| 2018 | Glen E. Gresham Visiting Professorship Lecture, University of Buffalo |
| 2018 | Pitt Innovator Award: For licensing, intellectual property through the University of Pittsburgh to a company for commercial use |
| 2018 | Coulter Award: Outstanding concept for a medical device or technology, PneuMobility |
| 2018 | Golden Eagle Award, Joint Force Headquarters, Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs |
| 2018 | On Field Recognition, Military and Veteran Appreciation Night, Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball |
| 2019 | Inventor Collectible Trading Card #28, US Patent and Trademark Office |
| 2019 | Journey of Innovation, Inventor for October 2019, US Patent and Trademark Office |
| 2019 | Sitting Tall, Inventor’s Digest: Cover photo and featured inventor for September 2019 |
| 2019 | Mathworks (creators of Matlab and Simulink) Innovator |
| 2019 | Distinguished Speaker Fulbright Fellows, US Department of State |
| 2019 | Distinguished Visiting Professor, Loughborough University |
| 2019 | Distinguished Speaker, 28th Infantry Division and Pennsylvania Army National Guard Memorial, Boalsburg, Pennsylvania |
| 2019 | Distinguished Lecturer, Defense Medical Rehabilitation Centre, Stanford Hall, United Kingdom |
| 2019 | Distinguished Lecturer, Care Coalition, US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) |
| 2019 | Doll-Tepper Keynote Lecturer, International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education (ICSSPE/CIEPSS) |
| 2019 | Keynote Speaker, United States Patent and Trademark Office, National Summer Teacher Institute on Innovation, STEM, and Intellectual Property |
| 2019 | Keynote Speaker, Future Professors Institute, Cornell University |
| 2019 | Distinguished Lecturer, Allegheny County Bar Association |
| 2019 | Uber Distinguished Lecturer, Uber Corporation |
| 2019 | TRAILS Distinguished Lecturer, University of Utah |
| 2019 | Osher Distinguished Lecturer, University of Pittsburgh |
| 2019 | Gold Medal, Americas Paralympic Committee |
| 2019 | Pitt Innovator Award |
| 2019 | Veteran Advocate of the Year, Pittsburgh Hires Vets |
| 2020 | NDEAM-75 and Veterans Day Speaker, Google |
| 2020 | Keynote Speaker, CSUN Conference on Assistive Technology |
| 2020 | Keynote Speaker, Augmented Human International Conference |
| 2020 | Keynote Speaker, BioBreakfast, Breathing Life into Pittsburgh’s Life Sciences |
| 2020 | Keynote Speaker, Accelerated Business Program, Terry College of Business, University of Georgia |
| 2020 | Keynote Speaker, Pennsylvania Bio |
| 2020 | 2020 Inspiring Programs in STEM Award, INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine |
| 2020 | Distinguished Scientist and Inventor, Family Science Days, American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| 2021 | John P. McGovern Science and Society Award, Sigma Xi Research Society |
| 2021 | Outstanding Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts of America |
| 2021 | Outstanding Veteran Faculty Member, On Field Salute, Department of Athletics, University of Pittsburgh |
| 2021 | Veteran of Major Impact, University of Pittsburgh |
| 2021 | Featured Speaker, International Rehabilitation Week, International Society for Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine |
| 2021 | Certificate of Appointment, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Secretary of Veterans Affairs |
| 2021 | World Expert in Disabled Persons, ExpertScape |
| 2021 | 35th Air Carrier Access Act Anniversary Celebration Distinguished Speaker, US Department of Transportation, Office of the Secretary of Transportation |
| 2021 | NASA Disability Employment Awareness Month Distinguished Speaker, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center |
| 2021 | Pennsylvania Veteran Service Medal, Department of Military and Veteran Affairs and Governor of Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
| 2021 | Honored Distinguished Leader, Leadership Lecture Series, Office of the Surgeon General and Commander US Army Medical Command |
| 2021 | “Tech Talk” Distinguished Engineer, Hyundai of America |
| 2021 | Distinguished Scientist Speaker, The Honors College, East Carolina University |
| 2021 | Closing Ceremonies Speaker, US Army Warrior Games Trials, Office of the Surgeon General and Commander US Army Medical Command |
| 2021 | Distinguished Scientist Speaker, 75th Anniversary Distinguished Speaker Series, Fulbright Scholars Program, US Department of State |
| 2022 | AUSA Creighton Abrams Medal, Association of the US Army |
| 2022 | IEEE Biomedical Engineering Award (Medal), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers |
| 2022 | “Speedy Award,” Paralyzed Veterans of America |
| 2022 | Colin McLlauren Award, Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology Society of North America |
| 2022 | Silver Pyramid Award, Boy Scouts of America |
| 2022 | Keynote Speaker, InventEd and USPTO Reconnect, Reimagine, and Reinvigorate |
| 2023 | NIH Director Wednesday Afternoon Distinguished Speaker |
| 2023 | National Inventors Hall of Fame for wheelchair technologies, National Inventors Hall of Fame and USPTO |
| 2023 | Distinguished Eagle Scout, National Eagle Scout Association |
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Complete transcript of interview
The published version of the transcript may diverge from the interview audio due to edits to the transcript made by staff of the Center for Oral History, often at the request of the interviewee, during the transcript review process.
Complete Interview Audio File Web-quality download
74.9 MB