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Oral history interview with Rory Cooper

  • 2017-Jun-22
  • 2017-Jun-23

Oral history interview with Rory Cooper

  • 2017-Jun-22
  • 2017-Jun-23

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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Interviewee
Interviewer
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Format
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Extent
  • 129 pages
  • 2h 38m 16s
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Rights Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Credit line
  • Courtesy of Science History Institute

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

Department
Collection
Oral history number 1066

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Interviewee biographical information

Born
  • November 09, 1959
  • Los Angeles, California, United States

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

PDF — 1.6 MB
cooper_r_1066_updated_full.pdf

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

3 Separate Interview Segments Archival-quality downloads