Rory A. Cooper

Rory A. Cooper, Ph.D. has authored or co-authored > 400 peer-reviewed journal publications, with >30 patents awarded or pending; and is author: “Rehabilitation Engineering Applied to Mobility & Manipulation” and “Wheelchair Selection & Configuration”, and co-editor of “Promoting Successful Integration”, “An Introduction to Rehabilitation Engineering”, “Warrior Transition Leader: Medical Rehabilitation Handbook”, and award winning book “Care of the Combat Amputee”.

He is Fellow of AAAS, NAI, RESNA, IEEE, AIMBE, and BMES; and has been National Academies of Sciences Distinctive Voices Lecture, ACC Distinguished Lecturer, Smithsonian Institute ADA 25th Anniversary Festival Speaker, and inaugural AAAS-Lemelson Foundation Invention Ambassador. Cooper is a former President of RESNA.

In 1988, he was a bronze medalist in the Paralympic Games, and was awarded the International Paralympic Scientific Achievement Award (2013).

He has served on Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Advisory Committee, Sec. VA Prosthetics & Special Disability Programs Advisory Committee, Chair NICHD National Advisory Board on Medical Rehabilitation Research, DoD Health Board Subcommittee on Amputation & Orthopedics, NSF Advisory Committee for Education & Human Resources, and NAS Keck Foundation Initiative Human Health Span Steering Committee.

Cooper serves on PVA Research Foundation Board, National Easter Seals Board of Directors, World Institute on Disability, and US Intellectual Property Association Board of Directors.

Cooper is one of 28 people (along with Thomas Edison, Nicholas Tesla, Steve Wozniak, etc) recognized with a US Patent and Trademark Office “Collectible Card” for his inventions and contributions to innovation. Cooper has been featured in AARP magazine, TIME Magazine (print and video) and as a world “Healthcare Hero” by Oprah Winfrey’s “O-Magazine”, and on a Cheerios cereal box. He with one of his robots was centerfold in Popular Science. PN Magazine included Cooper as one of the people who have transformed the lives of people with SCI; while USO On Point featured Cooper as one of the veterans who have most influenced the lives of veterans through technology. Cooper provided insights to best-selling author, Mary Ann McFadden, for her novel “The Book Lover”.