Arnold C. Cooper

Arnold C. Cooper 79 , of West Lafayette, died at 6:32Pm Thursday in his residence due to leukemia. He was born March 9, 1933, in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Millard and Ellen Cooper. He and his family lived in Cincinnati before they moved to New Castle, Indiana. He grew up in New Castle. In high school, he was active in speech contests and was Indiana state champion in three different contests; he represented the state twice in national competitions. He received a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from Purdue in 1955. As an undergraduate, he was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity and was on the university debate team. He was in the army for six months as a second lieutenant and then was in the active reserves.He received a Master's degree in Industrial Management from Purdue in 1957 (in the first Master's class of what became the Krannert School) and a Doctor's degree in Business Administration from Harvard University in 1962. In 2005, he received an Honorary Doctor of Management degree from Purdue. He was married to Jean Phillips Lord in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts, on September 12, 1959. He served as a faculty member or visiting scholar at Harvard University, Stanford University, the Wharton School, Manchester Business School (England), and IMD Management Development Institute (Switzerland). He joined the Purdue faculty in 1963 and for much of his career was Louis A. Weil, Jr. Professor of Management at the Krannert School of Management, Purdue University. He was the author or co-author of seven books and had written extensively on entrepreneurship, strategic management, and the management of technology. He served on the Federal Advisory Committee on Industrial Innovation and the Indiana Employment Development Commission. He was named as a Sagamore of the Wabash in 1989. He had served as chairman of the Division of Business Policy and Strategy of The Academy of Management. He was a Fellow of the Academy of Management and a founding Fellow of the Strategic Management Society. He received the “International Award for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research” in 1997; he and his wife gave the $50,000 prize to Purdue to support student scholarships. He received the “Richard D. Irwin Outstanding Educator Award” in 1999 from the Division of Business Policy and Strategy of the Academy of Management. He was named the “Entrepreneurship Educator of the Year” in 2009 by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. He was a recipient of the “Distinguished Scholar Award” of the International Council on Small Business. He was twice a co-recipient of “Best Paper Awards” given by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management and also received the “Coleman Entrepreneurship Mentor Award” from that organization; in 2004 that organization designated its “Best Paper Award on High Growth Businesses” the “Dr. Arnold Cooper Award.” The Babson-Kauffman Entrepreneurship Conference awarded him the “Ten-year Author Award” and the “Lifetime Membership Award.” He received teaching awards at the undergraduate and masters levels, including the Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award (twice), the Honeywell Master Teacher Award, the Salgo Noren Outstanding Teacher Award, and the university-wide Murphy Teaching Award. He was a founding member of the Purdue Teaching Academy and is listed in the Purdue Book of Great Teachers (plaque in Purdue Memorial Union). He served as major professor for five doctoral students who won prizes for their dissertations. He had been a member of the Academy of Management, the Strategic Management Society, and the International Council on Small Business. He was a life member of the President's Council of Purdue. He enjoyed Purdue University sports, the Cincinnati Reds, gardening and watercolor painting. He was a member of First United Methodist Church, where he served at various times as usher, greeter, liturgist, member of the staff-parish committee and chair of the finance committee. He was a member of Wabash Valley Watercolor Society and participated in a number of exhibitions. Surviving with his wife are two children, Katherine of Washington, D.C. and David (wife: Peg) of Portland, Oregon and a brother, Richard Cooper (wife: Jessica) of St. Petersburg, Florida. A Celebration of life service will be held on Sunday December 9,2012 at First United Methodist Church 1700 W. State St. West Lafayette, In 47906 . Officiating will be Rev. Daniel J. Berger and Rev. Dr. Philip J. Klinger.Private interment will take place at Tippecanoe Memory Gardens.