1. TABLE>>spring2016
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HANGING WITH DR. COOPER
Seven bookshelves, bursting with awards, line the walls of Dr. Rory Coo-
per’s office in Bakery Square: the Joseph Engelberger Award, the Olin
Teague Award, the Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the American
Association for the Advancement of Science Mentor Award, letters of
recognition from past presidents. There’s a copy of the 2012 best-sell-
ing romance novel, The Book Lover, by Maryann McFadden, whose
main character, Colin, described within the pages as a “Man-God,” was
inspired by Cooper.
But it’s the Cheerios that gets everyone’s attention. The iconic yellow box
was sent to him in 2009. On the side are six photos of participants in the
28th Annual National Veterans Wheelchair Games. His is one of them.
“That could overwhelm everything I’ve done,” laughs the director of
the Human Engineering Research Laboratories (HERL) at the Univer-
sity of Pittsburgh.
Cooper, then a 20-year-old sergeant in the Army, was in Frankenthal,
Germany on July 23, 1980. During a bicycle ride, a bus pushed
him into an oncoming truck, its rear tire running him over.
“I remembered thinking, ‘Crap, I can’t walk’ before passing
out cold,” he says. At the hospital, he regained conscious-
ness, but not before they assumed the worst and sent his
obituary to the local newspaper.
Fast forward 35 years, and it’s clear that little time was
spent feeling woeful. This, he says confidently, is his
calling. “This” is a world-renowned expert in wheeled
mobility, gracing the cover of various magazines under the
heading “Mobile Master” and “Spin Doctor.” It’s winning
a bronze medal from the ’88 Seoul Paralympics, not to
mention the 150+ medals from the National Veterans
Wheelchair Games.
Every time he accepts an award, he thinks the same
thing: “Is this cutting a pathway for others to follow?”
He strives to create more opportunities for people with
disabilities. “Disability” isn’t a word he favors.
“People need to get over how they perceive people
with disabilities. We need to recognize that everyone
has value,” he says.
the world’s top expert on wheeled mobility is a Pittsburgh guy
person of interest STORY BY KATE BENZ // PHOTOGRAPHED BY GREGORY NEISER