Dr. Rory Cooper is the FISA/PVA Endowed Chair and a Distinguished Professor of the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh. He is also the Center Director at the Center of Excellence for Wheelchair and Related Technology, VA Rehabilitation Research & Development Center, and a Senior Research Career Scientist at the VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Service, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In addition, Dr. Cooper holds a secondary appointment as Professor in both the Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and of Mechanical Engineering and Bioengineering.
Dr. Cooper attended California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (Signals and Systems) and his Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering (Computer Control Systems). From there he went to the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (Biomedical Engineering and Signals and Systems). He did his post graduate fellowship at VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Center at the Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Affairs Hospital in Hines, IL, where his discipline was Rehabilitation Engineering and Science.
Dr. Cooper works in collaboration with several organizations, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society North America, and the Institutional Organization for Standards. He is a Founding Editor of the Assistive Technology Research Book Series. He serves as an editorial board member for American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Assistive Technology, Journal of Spinal Cord Injury Medicine, and Medical Engineering and Physics.
Dr. Cooper has received numerous honors for his work, including the Power of Work Award from Goodwill Industries of Western Pennsylvania, the da Vinci Lifetime Achievement Award from the National MS Society - Michigan Chapter, and the Certificate of Appreciation from the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development - National Institutes of Health, amongst many others. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (Elected Fellow 1998), of the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society North America (Elected Fellow 2002), and of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (Elected Fellow 1998). He is a Life Member of Paralyzed Veterans of America and of the National Eagle Scout Association, and he is on the Board of Directors for both Easter Seals of Western Pennsylvania and United Cerebral Palsy of Allegheny County.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Rory Cooper, PhD
Phone: (412) 383-6590
Email: rcooper@pitt.edu