List of Cooper Union alumni

Main article: Cooper Union

This is a list of notable alumni of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. Awards received by Cooper Union alumni include one Nobel Prize in Physics, a Pritzker Prize, fifteen Rome Prizes, 26 Guggenheim Fellowships, three MacArthur Fellowships, nine Chrysler Design Awards, three American Institute of Architects Thomas Jefferson Awards for Public Architecture, a SEA Write Award, and one Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. The school also boasts 39 Fulbright Scholars since 2001, and thirteen National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships since 2004.

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A

• George G. Adams (engineer), mechanical engineer
• Jon Agee, author and illustrator of children's books
• John Alcorn (1935–1992), illustrator
• Stan Allen, former Dean of the School of Architecture, Princeton University
• Daniel Arsham, artist, with alumnus Alex Mustonen established Snarkitecture
• David Attie (1920–1982), photographer

B

• Donald Baechler, painter
• Firelei Báez, artist
• Alex Bag, video artist
• Elizabeth Gowdy Baker (1860–1927), portraitist
• Katherine M. Ball (1859-1952), art educator, especially of Asian art
• Shigeru Ban, pioneer of "Paper Architecture", winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize (2014)
• Karen Bausman, Rome Prize recipient, the only American woman architect to hold both the Eliot Noyes (Harvard) and Eero Saarinen (Yale) chairs
• Max Becher, artist and educator
• Dave Berg (1920–2002), cartoon artist and main contributor of Mad magazine illustrations
• Renata Bernal, painter
• Theodore H. Berlin (1917-1962), theoretical physicist
• Emile Berliner (1851–1929), invented the vinyl record
• Billy Bitzer (1872–1944), cinematographer
• Victor Gustav Bloede (1849–1937), chemist and philanthropist; protege' of Peter Cooper
• Louise Brann (1906–1982), muralist
• Norman Bridwell (1928–2014), cartoonist and creator of Clifford the Big Red Dog
• Kadar Brock, contemporary abstract artist
• Steve Brodner, cartoonist
• Ronald Brookmeyer, public health researcher; professor of biostatistics at UCLA
• Dik Browne (1917–1989), cartoonist and creator of Hägar the Horrible
• Jennie Augusta Brownscombe (1850-1936), artist
• Lee Brozgol (1941–2021), visual artist, educator, and social worke
• Kevin Burke, CEO of Consolidated Edison

C

• Albert Carnesale, former chancellor of UCLA and dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard
• Alfred Clark (1873–1950), inventor, cinematic director, and media executive
• Martin Charnin (1934–2019), Tony Award-winning lyricist, writer, and theatre director
• Remy Charlip (1929–2012), choreographer, writer, and illustrator
• Ching Ho Cheng (1946–1989), artist
• John Walter Christie (1865–1944), engineer and inventor
• Seymour Chwast, graphic designer, co-founder of Push Pin Studios
• Clio Newton, artist
• Guy Coheleach, wildlife artist
• Anna Botsford Comstock (1854-1930), leader in the nature study educational movement, author, illustrator, and first female professor at Cornell University
• Anna Conway, painter
• Miriam Cooper (1891–1976), actress
• E. Miriam Coyrière, educator and entrepreneur
• Will Cotton, painter
• William L. Coulter (1865–1907), architect
• Joshua Lionel Cowen (1877–1965), inventor of the flash-lamp and co-founder of Lionel Corporation
• Amy Cutler, artist

D

• Noah Davis (1983-2015), painter and founder of the Underground Museum in Los Angeles
• Peggy Deamer, Emeritus Professor of Architecture at Yale
• Roy DeCarava (1919–2009), photographer
• William Francis Deegan (1882–1932), architect and political leader, namesake of the Major Deegan Expressway
• Bruce Degen, illustrator for The Magic School Bus
• Freda Diamond (1905–1998), industrial designer known for designing mass market home goods
• Elizabeth Diller, with Ricardo Scofidio, the first architects to win a MacArthur Prize co-founder of Diller Scofidio + Renfro
• Michael Doret, graphic designer, font designer, lettering artist
• Lou Dorfsman (1918–2008), graphic designer art director for CBS
• Eric Drooker, painter and author
• William Dubilier (1888–1969), inventor of the mica capacitor and radio pioneer
• Clive Dym, chair of the engineering department at Harvey Mudd College; professor at Stanford

E

• John M. Eargle (1931–2007), Oscar and Grammy-winning audio engineer and musician
• Thomas Edison (1847–1931), inventor
• Allegra Eggleston (1860–1933), artist and illustrator
• Malachi Leo Elliott (1886-1967), architect
• Phillip Eng, president of the Long Island Rail Road and general manager of the MBTA
• Jeffrey Epstein (1953–2019), financial advisor and convicted sex offender. Did not graduate.
• Mark Epstein, property developer, brother of Jeffrey Epstein.
• Mitch Epstein, photographer

F

• Isidor Fankuchen (1905-1964), material scientist and solid-state physicist; pioneer of crystallography
• Adriana Farmiga, visual artist and Dean at Cooper Union School of Art
• Robert Feintuch, painter
• Joel H. Ferziger (1937–2004), mechanical engineer and expert in computational fluid dynamics
• Anthony Fiala (1869-1950), American explorer
• Irving Fierstein (1915–2009), painter, designer
• Liana Finck, cartoonist and author
• Israel F. Fischer (1858–1940), US Representative, judge
• James Fitzgerald (1851-1922), American jurist and politician
• Thom Fitzgerald, filmmaker
• Audrey Flack, pioneer of photorealism
• Max Fleischer (1883–1972), animator, inventor, film director and producer; co-creator of Betty Boop
• Mary Hallock Foote (1847–1938), author and illustrator
• Charles R. Forbes (1878–1952), politician and military officer; first Director of the US Veterans' Bureau
• Laura Ford, sculptor
• Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965), Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
• Brad Friedmutter, architect
• Martin Feinberg, chemical engineer and mathematician

G

• Hope Gangloff, painter
• Janet Gardner, filmmaker
• Lenora Garfinkel (1930–2020), architect
• Paul Garrin, filmmaker
• Louis D. Gibbs, lawyer, politician, judge
• Philip Gips (1931–2019), film poster artist
• Milton Glaser (1929–2020), graphic designer, creator of the I Love New York logo, co-founder of Push Pin Studios
• Harold S. Goldberg, electrical engineer; first chair of the IEEE
• Minetta Good (1895–1946), muralist, painter and printmaker
• Harry H. Goode (1909-1960), computer engineer and systems engineer; professor at the University of Michigan
• Aaron Goodelman, sculptor
• Sidney Gordin (1918–1996), visual artist, professor
• T.J. Gottesdiener, architect and manager of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
• Harold Grad (1923-1986), applied mathematician
• Aaron Green (1917-2001), architect and protege of Frank Lloyd Wright; lecturer at Stanford University
• Charles Greenfield (1885-1979), engineer
• Leonard Gross, mathematician; Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at Cornell University

H

• Hans Haacke, artist
• Dimitri Hadzi (1921–2006), sculptor
• William Harnett (1848–1892), painter
• Irving Harper (1916–2015), industrial designer
• Matthew Harrison, film director
• Sagi Haviv, partner, Chermayeff & Geismar; designer of the Library of Congress and Armani Exchange logos
• Palmer Hayden (1890–1973), artist famous for depictions of African-American life
• Dorothy E. Hayes (1935–2015), early Black graphic designer, educator, curator
• John Hejduk (1929–2000), one of New York Five, a group of five New York City architects
• Eva Hesse (1936–1970), sculptor
• Angela Hill, professional mixed martial arts fighter
• Edith Hillinger, mixed media artist, painter, founding member of second wave feminism
• Julian Hirsch (1922–2003), electrical engineer and audio critic
• Chuck Hoberman, winner of the Chrysler Design Award for Innovation and Design
• Kim Holleman, artist, MIT Media Lab Social Computing Group
• Emil Clemens Horst (1867–1940), inventor
• Sharon Horvath (born 1958), mixed media artist, painter, educator
• Shelby Hughes (1981–2014), artist and designer
• Russell Hulse, 1993 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics
• Elizabeth Bullock Humphrey (1841–1889), illustrator

I

• Alexander Isley, graphic designer

J

• Francis Jehl (1860–1941), electrochemist and inventor
• Patty Jenkins, filmmaker
• Herman Jessor (1894-1990), architect and engineer
• Sandy Jimenez, comic book artist
• Bonnie E. John, cognitive psychologist
• Crockett Johnson (1906–1975), (David Johnson Leisk), comic strip artist and author of Harold and the Purple Crayon
• Willard F. Jones (1890–1967), naval architect, head of National Safety Council's marine section and Vice President of Gulf Oil
• Mimi Jung (born 1981), artist

K

• Bob Kane (1915–1998), comic book artist and writer, creator of Batman
• Gideon Kanner, law professor, consultant, author, and lecturer
• Michael Kasha (1920–2013), physical chemist, educator, and guitar designer
• Alex Katz, figurative artist
• Luke A. Keenan (1872-1924), politician
• Arthur C. Keller (1901-1983), electrical engineer; pioneer of recording technologies
• Otto Kempner (1858-1914), lawyer, politician, and judge
• Owen M. Kiernan, member of the New York State Assembly
• Owen Kildare (1864-1911), realist writer
• Dave King, novelist and poet
• William King (1925–2015), artist
• R.B. Kitaj (1932–2007), painter
• Murray S. Klamkin (1921-2004), mathematician
• Vera Klement, professor at the University of Chicago
• Herman Charles Koenig (1893–1959), book collector, friend of H. P. Lovecraft
• Fred Kohler, inventor, author, and lecturer
• Lee Krasner (1908–1984), painter
• Kathleen Kucka, painter
• Heather Kulik, computational materials scientist and chemical engineer; professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Moses Kunitz (1887-1978), biochemist
• Harvey Kurtzman (1924–1993), cartoonist, editor and co-founder of Mad

L

• Lokanātha, Italian buddhist monk.

• Marisa Lago, attorney; Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade
• Alfred A. Lama (1899–1984), New York State Assemblyman and co-sponsor of Mitchell-Lama housing legislation
• Thomas W. Lamb (1871–1942), architect and designer of theaters and cinemas
• Morgan Foster Larson (1882–1961), Governor of New Jersey, 1929–1932
• Benjamin Lax (1915-2015), solid-state and plasma physicist
• Joseph Lechleider (1933-2015), electrical engineer; inventor of DSL technology
• Aaron J. Levy (1881-1955), lawyer and politician
• Janet Cook Lewis, painter, librarian, and bookbinder
• Daniel Libeskind, architect for the reconstruction of the World Trade Center
• Whitfield Lovell, artist
• Herb Lubalin (1918–1981), graphic designer, creative director for publications Eros, Fact, and Avant Garde; designed the typeface ITC Avant Garde
• Samuel Lubkin (1906-1972), mathematician and computer scientist; pioneer in the early history of computing
• Marie Luhring Early woman truck designer in United States, first woman associate member of the American Society of Automotive Engineers
• Ellen Lupton, graphic designer, writer, curator and educator
• Wauhope Lynn (1856–1920), lawyer, judge, and politician
• Noah Lyon, artist

M

• Jay Maisel, photographer
• Sylvia Plimack Mangold
• Fred Marcellino (1939–2001), illustrator
• Christian Marclay, artist, composer
• Judith Margolis, artist, essayist, book designer, curator
• Joseph Margulies (1896–1984), artist
• Jacob Marks (1861–1965), lawyer, New York State Senator, Municipal Court Justice
• Leonidas D. Marinelli (1906-1974), radiological physicist; founded the field of Human Radiobiology
• Leslie Martinez, artist, abstract painting
• Alexia Massalin, computer scientist and programmer
• Crystal McKenzie, designer
• Antonina Roll-Mecak, molecular biophyicist; Chief of the Unit of Cell Biology and Biophysics at the National Institutes of Health
• Linn Meyers, artist
• Abbott Miller, designer
• Mike Mills, filmmaker
• Matthew Monahan, sculptor
• A. Harry Moore (1877–1952), 39th Governor of New Jersey
• Toshiko Mori, architect
• Jacqueline Moss (1927–2005), art historian, educator
• P. Buckley Moss (1933-2024), artist
• Michel Mossessian, architect
• James H. Mulligan Jr. (1920–1996), American electrical engineer, former executive officer of National Academy of Engineering and president of IEEE
• Thomas Maurice Mulry (1855–1916), businessman and philanthropist
• Wangechi Mutu, artist
• Henry L. Myers (1862-1943), United States senator

N

• Roy Nachum, Israeli New York-based contemporary artist
• Willa Nasatir (born 1990) BFA 2012, photographer, visual artist
• Victor Nellenbogen (1888–1959), architect
• Vera Neumann (1907–1993), artist known for colored linen patterns and scarves signed "Vera" by the Vera Company

O

• Ella Seaver Owen (1852–1910), artist, teacher

P

• Victor Papanek (1923–1998), designer and educator; early proponent of ecologically and socially responsible design
• Bruce Pasternack (1947–2021), engineer, author, and President and CEO of the Special Olympics
• Ruth Pastine, minimalist painter
• Randolph Perkins (1871-1936), Republican US Congressman
• Eleanore Pettersen (1916–2003), architect
• William Gardner Pfann (1917–1982), inventor and materials scientist; known for his development of zone melting
• Sylvia Plevritis, professor and chair of the Department of Biomedical Data Science at Stanford University
• Robert Plonsey (1924-2015), electrical engineer; Pfizer-Pratt Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University; known for his work in Bioelectricity
• Ron Pompei, architect and founder of Pompei A.D.
• Charles E. Pont (1898–1971), painter, illustrator, printmaker, graphic designer
• Neal Pozner (1955–1994), artist, editor, writer and designer at DC Comics
• Seth Putterman, physicist

R

• Grace Renzi (1922-2011), painter
• Andrea Robbins, artist and educator
• Morgan Robertson (1861-1915), American writer and self-proclaimed inventor of the periscope
• Frank E. Rom (1926-2012), NASA engineer
• Otto A. Rosalsky (1873-1936), lawyer and judge
• Fred Rosebury (1901-1999), engineer and artist
• Charles Rosen (1917–2002), engineer and pioneer in artificial intelligence in development of Shakey the Robot
• Morris Rosenfeld (1885–1968), maritime photographer
• Reynold Ruffins, graphic designer, co-founder of Push Pin Studios
• Jere F. Ryan (1882-1948), builder, businessman, and politician

S

• Amy Sadao, Daniel Dietrich II Director of the Institute of Contemporary Art
• Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848–1907), Beaux-Arts sculptor, numismatist, and educator
• Karen Sandler, lawyer
• Erik Sanko, marionette-maker and leader of the rock band Skeleton Key
• Alfred Sarant (1918–1979), engineer and Soviet spy
• Edward Sargent (1842–1914), architect
• Augusta Savage (Augusta Christine Fells) (1892-1962), sculptor and teacher
• Henry Scheffé (1907-1977), statistician; known for the Lehmann-Scheffe theorem and Scheffe's method
• Arnold Alfred Schmidt, painter
• Mischa Schwartz, professor of electrical engineering, Columbia University
• Richard Schwartz, engineer, shared the 2019 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering for design and development of the first GPS satellites.
• Sy Schulman (1926–2012), civil engineer and planner, Mayor of White Plains, New York (1993–1997)
• Ricardo Scofidio, with Elizabeth Diller, the first architects to win a MacArthur Prize, co-founder of Diller Scofidio + Renfro
• Samuel R. Scottron (1841–1908), engineer and inventor, grandfather of entertainer Lena Horne
• Georgette Seabrooke (1916–2011), muralist, artist, art therapist and educator
• George Segal (1924–2000), Pop Art sculptor and painter
• Emily McGary Selinger (1848–1927), painter, writer, poet, educator
• Joan Semmel (born 1932), feminist painter; winner of numerous awards including include the Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award (2013)
• Nathan Silver (1936-2025), architect and architecture critic
• Redmond Simonsen (1942–2005), graphic artist and game designer at the wargame company Simulations Publications, Inc.
• Neal Slavin, photographer
• John L. Smith (1889–1950), chemist, pharmaceutical executive, and co-owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers
• Zak Smith, artist
• Charles B.J. Snyder (1860–1945), chief architect and Superintendent of School Buildings, New York City Board of Education, 1891–1923
• Edward Sorel, graphic designer, co-founder of Push Pin Studios
• Helen Sheldon Jacobs Smillie (1854–1926), painter
• Mark A. Stamaty, cartoonist and children's writer and illustrator
• Edwin King Stodola (1914–1992), radio engineer; chief scientist on Project Diana, which bounced radio waves off the moon for the first time in 1946
• Thaddeus Strassberger, opera director
• William Sulzer (1863-1941), 39th governor of New York
• Eric E. Sumner (1923–1993), engineer, inventor, and scientist; contributor to the early development of switching systems

T

• Philip Taaffe, painter
• Gemma Taccogna (1923–2007) Italian-born visual artist known for papier-mâché and ceramics
• Katharine Lamb Tait (1895–1981), artist
• Nina Tandon, bioengineer and educator
• Paul Thek (1933-1988), painter, sculptor, and installation artist
• Adah Belle Thoms (1870-1943), founder of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses
• Maximilian Toch (1864–1946), chemist, manufacturer, educator, and early pioneer of art forensics
• Hy Turkin (1915–1955), sportswriter and editor of the first baseball encyclopedia

U

• Andrea U'Ren, children's book author and illustrator

V

• Jaret Vadera, artist
• Stan Vanderbeek (1927–1984), animator
• Henry Earle Vaughan (1912-1978), electrical engineer
• Richard Velazquez, Honda and Porsche car designer
• Allyson Vieira, artist
• Jovan Karlo Villalba, painter
• Harold Van Buren Voorhis (1894-1983), chemist

W

• Louis Waldman (1892–1982), engineer, labor lawyer, a founding member of the Social Democratic Federation
• Annie E. A. Walker (1855–1929), portrait artist, one of the first African-American women to complete an institutional art education in the US
• Edward J. Wasp (1923–2015), chemical and environmental engineer, pioneer of slurry pipelines
• Adolph Alexander Weinman (1870–1952), sculptor
• Joseph Weber (1919-2000), American physicist
• Tom Wesselmann (1931–2004), painter
• Pennerton West (1913–1965), painter
• Alice Wetterlund, comedian
• Jack Whitten (1939–2018), painter
• Christopher Wilmarth (1943–1987), sculptor
• Jerome Witkin, painter
• Joel-Peter Witkin, fine art photographer
• Dan Witz, painter, street artist
• Tobi Wong (1974–2010), designer, artist
• Caroline Woolard, artist
• Sarah A. Worden Lloyd (1855-1918), painter, art instructor

Y

• Jackie Yi-Ru Ying, chemical engineer, nanotechnology scientist, and educator
• Prabda Yoon, writer