Robert H. Cooper papers

Robert H. Cooper (1901-1990), namesake of the Ball State Cooper Science Complex, the Robert Cooper Audubon Society, and the Esther L. Cooper and Robert H. Cooper Memorial Woodland, was a professor at Ball State University from 1935-1968. In 1950, Cooper took over as the head of the Science department in addition to his role as professor of Biology. In 1965, the Science department was split into separate disciplines in, at which time Dr. Cooper became the coordinator of sciences and mathematics. One of his more significant contributions during his time at Ball State was the acquisition and curation of the Ball bird collection, notably the African bird collection in collaboration with Virginia Ball.

Outside of his work at Ball State University, Dr. Cooper had a variety of interests. Among many things, he was a member of the Indiana Audubon society, a society centered around interest in birding. He was also the Indiana president of the Kiwanis Club, an international service club. Dr. Cooper was also an avid airplane flier, and was known for taking students on excursions to Alaska.

Robert H. Cooper’s wife, Esther L. Munro Cooper, was also a Ball State alum, whom he met when they had an undergraduate biology class together. She went on to become a teacher and deaconess at Hazelwood Christian Church. She was also a member of the Ball State Faculty Wives, the International Wives club, and the McRae Wives Club – an organization of women who worked to improve their writing and paper presentation skills.