Rory A. Cooper

Dr. Rory A. Cooper holds several prestigious positions including Associate Dean for Inclusion and FISA & Paralyzed Veterans of America Distinguished Professor of Rehabilitation Science and Technology and Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also the Founding Director and the VA Senior Research Career Scientist at the Human Engineering Research Laboratories. He holds an adjunct professorship at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University and is also a Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland.

A prolific writer, he has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles and three books, including the award-winning Care of the Combat Amputee. He has over 25 patents awarded or pending. Dr. Cooper’s students have been the recipients of over 50 national and international awards. A Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and other scholarly organizations, he is the recipient of the Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Medal.

Dr. Cooper has served on federal advisory committees in the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services. Currently a member of the National Academy of Medicine’s Committee on Assistive Products and Devices, Dr. Cooper has improved the lives of Veterans through technology. An Army Veteran with a spinal cord injury, he won a bronze medal in Paralympic Games in Seoul, South Korea in 1988.

Dr. Cooper holds B.S. and M.Eng degrees in electrical engineering from California Polytechnic State University, a PhD in electrical and computer engineering with a concentration in bioengineering from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and an Honorary Doctorate from Xi’an Jiatong University in China.

2020 Speaker List