By Matthew Grattan (ChE ’19) and Toby Stein (CE ’18)
Over the summer, several new additions have been made to the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, the School of Art, and the School of Engineering. “I am very happy that Cooper Union is able to add ten new full-time faculty, a 20% increase, to its already excellent group of faculty. We are adding two in Architecture, three in Art, two in Engineering, and three in Humanities, with final hiring to be done for the two in Architecture and one in Humanities. The addition of new faculty, especially at such a level as we are doing now, is a sign of a vibrant institution. I thank our existing faculty for their hard work on the search committees and look forward to the ideas and energy that our new faculty will bring to Cooper Union.” commented Acting President Bill Mea in an email.
The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) has hired two new full-time members, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Diego Malquori, and Assistant Professor of Art History, Raffaele Bedarida. The two assistant professors are the first new full-time hires in at least 10 years for the HSS faculty. Professor Malquori previously taught in Barcelona, Spain and holds two doctorates, one in astronomy and one in philosophy. Professor Bedarida, a Ph.D. in art history, has taught at The Cooper Union for the past two years as an adjunct.
The HSS faculty was “very close” to hiring a third full-time professor in economics, according to Professor Buckley. However, due to unforeseen circumstances the position remains open. “We want to make sure we have people who are right for Cooper and who will come because they are really keen on teaching undergraduates,” explained Dean Germano.
Additionally, two Postdoctoral Fellows have been hired. Nabaparna Ghosh, a Ph.D. in history from Princeton University, holds a “scholarly interest in South Asia,” according to Dean Germano. Nada Ayad has a Ph.D. in comparative literature from University of Southern California and conducts research related to Egyptian women’s writing and topics related to nationalism.
The School of Art has hired three new faculty members, Leslie Hewitt, Lucy Raven, and William Villalongo, bringing the total number of full-time Art faculty to 10. The new professors each bring their own contemporary practice to Cooper Union. Leslie Hewitt, a Cooper Union graduate, is involved in research and photography, and her work has been presented at the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, according to a campus-wide email. In one project, Lucy Raven has visited studios that turn 2-D films into 3-D films and related that process to rotoscoping (tracing over of film footage). William Villalongo studied at Cooper Union and has curated an exhibit at the Yale School of Art earlier this year called “Black Pulp!”—an examination of the portrayal of blacks in American media.
Mike Essl has become the Acting Dean of the School of Art, replacing Saskia Bos, who announced in March her plans to move to Europe after more than 10 years as the dean. “For me, if there are small moments I can change that make everyone’s life a little better, then I think that’s what the job is right now,” commented Essl on the new position. Acting Dean Essl, who graduated from The Cooper Union in 1996, may only hold the position for two years as stipulated in the union contract.
Also, Alexander Tochilovsky is the new proportional-time faculty member in the School of Art. “Not only does he do an amazing job as a professor here, he contributes to committees, helps with admissions, and has done a spectacular job in the Lubalin Center,” added Acting Dean Essl. Like Essl, Hewitt, and Villalongo, Tochilovsky is also a graduate of The Cooper Union.
The School of Engineering has two new full time faculty members, one in the Civil Engineering Department and one in the Electrical Engineering Department.
The newest Civil Engineering professor is no stranger to Cooper Union and the rigor that its professors provide. Dr. Neal Simon Kwong knows that it is no easy task to teach at Cooper Union, but he is ready for the challenge, having graduated after being taught by the same faculty a few years ago. Upon graduating in 2009, Professor Kwong departed New York, taking his talents to the west coast to begin his masters and Ph.D. at the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Kwong brings a wealth of seismology knowledge to Cooper where he will be able to expand on his passion for understanding how structures perform when subjected to seismographic loads. Dr. Kwong will also be returning one of his hobbies: handball. He was an avid member of the handball team while at Cooper and Berkeley, but do not be afraid to challenge him to a match after class.
Neveen Shlayan comes to Cooper ready for a challenge as the newest addition to the Department of Electrical Engineering. Dr. Shlayan taught previously at SUNY Maritime College. In addition to her Ph.D. concentrating in cyber physical systems from the University of Nevada, she also holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and two master’s degrees, one in electrical engineering and the other in mathematics. Her master’s in mathematics focused on neutron density distributions. Before entering academia, Professor Shlayan worked at Philips Research concentrating on large-scale lighting control for transportation systems. In addition to what she brings to the classroom, Dr. Shlayan is also a published author and a developer of a patent while at Phillips Research. This semester Dr. Shlayan is teaching two classes for electrical engineering students, Electronics 2 and Circuit Analysis.
New staff can be found elsewhere at Cooper Union as well. Kit Nicholls has been appointed to the Director of the Cooper Union Writing Center after working with Cooper for the past decade. Nicholls has a Ph.D. in English from NYU but began his undergraduate education as an engineering student. Grace Kendall has been hired as the new Title IX Coordinator and Director of Student Diversity and Inclusion after working for 10 years at the Pratt Institute. Previously, Mitchell Lipton, Vice President of Enrollment Services and Dean of Admissions, held the position of Title IX Coordinator. ◊