University Times

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is bestowing an honor for the first time on an American researcher who also is a former Paralympics medalist.

Rory Cooper, Distinguished Professor and FISA-Paralyzed Veterans of America Chair in the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, is scheduled to receive the IPC’s 2013 Paralympic Scientific Award at its VISTA 2013 conference about equipment and technology in Paralympic sports, one of Cooper’s areas of expertise.

IPC chief executive officer Xavier Gonzalez, in his letter announcing the selection of Cooper, said it was “in recognition of [his] outstanding contribution to the Paralympic movement.”

Cooper said: “The Paralympics have been an important aspect of my life for more than 30 years. Receiving this award parallels my participation in the 1988 Paralympic Games. I credit my involvement with the Paralympic movement as a significant contributor to making my life and professional career as rewarding as it has been.”

A U.S. Army veteran with a spinal cord injury, Cooper was a bronze medalist at the 1988 Seoul Paralympics in wheelchair relay racing and continues to compete, winning five golds in swimming at the National Veterans Wheelchair Games last summer. He is internationally renowned for his expertise in assistive technology, wheelchairs and the Wounded Warrior Project, along with his contributions to research and science in those fields.

Cooper is a U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs Career Scientist and the founding director at Human Engineering Research Laboratories, a VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Center of Excellence in partnership with Pitt. Also, he serves as co-director of the National Science Foundation Quality of Life Technology Engineering Research Center, a joint Pitt-Carnegie Mellon University effort.

He also holds secondary faculty appointments in bioengineering, mechanical engineering, physical medicine and rehabilitation and orthopaedic surgery.