Steven W. McLaughlin, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has been named the 14th president of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, effective July 1, 2025. McLaughlin has extensive experience within higher education, having spent nearly 30 years at Georgia Tech in a variety of roles both in the classroom and in administration, most recently as the university’s chief academic officer. The Cooper Union is a private college with internationally renowned schools of architecture, art, and engineering and faculty of humanities and social sciences.

The Cooper Union’s Board of Trustees, advised by a Presidential Search Committee that represented Cooper’s four faculties, the student body, alumni, and trustees, unanimously approved McLaughlin’s appointment. The search committee was also supported by global executive search firm, Spencer Stuart. McLaughlin’s selection follows the conclusion of a national search process informed by a survey of the entire college community to elicit feedback on the qualities and experience necessary for Cooper’s next president and input from each of the faculties in architecture, art, engineering, and the humanities and social sciences as well as key administration and staff. From an initial pool of more than 200 prospects, McLaughlin became the clear choice.

“As higher education continues to change at an accelerated pace, we have identified an educator and proven leader who is known for his transformative impact and high degree of emotional intelligence. Steve is a champion of students and, throughout his career, has sought to create learning experiences for students to grow as creative, ethical, globally aware, technologically sophisticated leaders who can define and solve problems to improve the human condition,” said Jamie Levitt, interim board chair and co-chair of the Presidential Search Committee.

Lou Manzione, a 1975 graduate of The Cooper Union’s School of Engineering, an alumni trustee, and co-chair of the search committee said, “It was evident how deeply Steve believes in the vision and values set forth by our founder Peter Cooper. He has demonstrated how important access and opportunity are for all students and understands how to enhance both through innovative initiatives and scholarships, all within complex institutions and a complex world.”

When McLaughlin assumes his new role, The Cooper Union will be three years away from completing its 10-year plan to restore full-tuition scholarships for all undergraduates. From its founding in 1859 through 2014, students paid no tuition to attend. Currently, all seniors and more than half of the student body attend tuition free. On average, more than 85% of tuition is covered for all undergraduates.

“With all that is happening in higher education, the vision of Peter Cooper is more important today as ever. Pursuing a return to free tuition demonstrates the kind of commitment that is necessary to make academic excellence affordable and accessible for students. That singular focus on students grabbed my heart. The Cooper Union is the right place at the right time, and I can’t wait to get started,” McLaughlin said.

“Steve McLaughlin is one of the most visionary, values-driven academic leaders I’ve had the privilege to work with. His deep commitment to student success, academic excellence, and innovation has left a lasting mark on Georgia Tech. While we will miss him greatly, I am thrilled to see him take the helm at The Cooper Union, an institution whose mission and spirit align so well with his own. Cooper is gaining a remarkable leader and an even better human being,” said Georgia Institute of Technology President Ángel Cabrera.

As Georgia Tech’s provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, a role he has held since 2020, McLaughlin provides leadership to all academic and related units, including all 29 schools within the colleges of business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences, the library, and professional education. Prior to this position, he also held posts as the dean and Southern Company chair of Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering, the largest engineering college in the country; the Steve W. Chaddick school chair in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and vice provost for international initiatives. McLaughlin's research interests are in the general area of communications and information theory. His research group has published more than 250 papers in journals and conferences and holds 36 US patents in the areas of forward error correction and equalization in wireless communications, data security, and privacy among others.

A past president of the IEEE Information Theory Society and a fellow of the IEEE, McLaughlin has received multiple honors for his lifetime of work in higher education including the Chevalier de l`Ordre National du Mérite (Knight of the French National Order of Merit), the second highest civilian award given by the Republic of France, for his leadership with the campus of Georgia Tech Lorraine. He also received a National Science Foundation Career Award and was the first Georgia Tech recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, cited by President Clinton "for leadership in the development of high-capacity, nonbinary optical recording formats." McLaughlin received a B.S.E.E. degree from Northwestern University, a M.S.E. degree from Princeton University, and a Ph.D. degree from the University of Michigan.