Richard Cooper

Richard Cooper

Template:TOCnestleft Richard "Dick" H. Cooper, General Welfare Group Managing Director, is a graduate of New York University. He completed the program on Investment Decisions & Behavioral Finance at the John F. Kennedy School of Finance at Harvard University and is a member of the Society of Quantitative Analysts. He serves as a member of the International Advisory Committee of the International Crisis Group. He is a Life Trustee of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, is on the Board of Directors of the Boy Scouts of America and the Chicago Council, and is a Life Member of the National Eagle Scout Association. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Lupus Foundation of America, and serves on the Illinois Public Arts Advisory Committee.

He is the father of Eric Cooper and husband of Lana Cooper.

Governor's Commission on Science and Technology

In 1989 Cooper joined the Illinois Governor's Commission on Science and Technology — Richard Cooper of Winnetka, chairman of Cooperfund Inc., replaced Karl Bays. The term is unspecified, and the appointment does not require Senate confirmation. The commission works to strengthen the economy of the state through the development of science and technology.

Cooperfund Inc.

Richard Cooper's Cooperfund Inc. is a family-owned investment company with over 100 investment partnerships, joint ventures, and strategic alliances in the Unites States and abroad. Cooperfund, Inc. provides joint venture capital for knowledgeable and well-organized institutional partners. Cooperfund, Inc. can also function as an intermediary in complex projects requiring both technical and financial expertise. It can also act as guarantor on worthy high risk projects having "appropriate social significance".

General Welfare Group

Based in the Chicago area, General Welfare Group was founded by Richard Cooper, a well-known pioneer in the hedge-fund industry.

The GWG investment team of financial scientists includes leading researchers from diverse fields such as physics, quantum analytics, statistics and engineering. These experts with world-class mathematical and analytical skills have developed investment models that break the mold of the efficient markets approach and deliver portable high alpha returns.

Using behavioral finance theory, the GWG team has developed an array of advanced algorithmic models that are highly scalable as well as applicable to global markets. GWG provides access to its existing models or works with clients to develop new approaches such as custom overlay solutions.

Responsibility to Protect

Cooper is the convenor of the Responsibility to Protect Coalition. The primary mission of the organization is to convince the American people and its leaders to embrace the norm of the responsibility to protect as a domestic and foreign policy priority. This "responsibility to protect" is defined by the organization as follows,

"While sovereign Governments have the primary responsibility to protect their own citizens from such catastrophes, when they are unable or unwilling to do so that responsibility should be taken up by the wider international community ” with it spanning a continuum involving prevention, response to violence, if necessary, and rebuilding shattered societies."

President Yushchenko visits Chicago

from left: Mrs. Richard Cooper, Richard Cooper, President Viktor Yushchenko, his wife Kateryna Yushchenko, Mayor Richard M. Daley and his wife Maggie Daley

From April 4 - 5, 2005, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko visited Chicago to meet with the city’s political and business leaders. The visit was organized by The Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Yushchenko’s Chicago agenda included a head of state keynote address at the Palmer House Hilton Grand Ballroom. Richard Cooper, a Council board member and founder of Cooperfund, Inc. introduced Mayor Richard M. Daley and Mayor Daley introduced the Ukrainian President, calling Mr Yushchenko a "hero for democracy." He stated, "I’m proud to welcome President Yushchenko to Chicago — not only on behalf of our proud Ukrainian community, but on behalf of all 3 million residents of our city. I look forward to a continued friendship and good will between the people of Chicago and the people of Ukraine."

Samantha Power Connection

In January 2009, Richard Cooper and Juliette Voïnov Kohler edited a book entitled "Responsibility to Protect: The Global Moral Compact for the 21st Century". The foreword for the book was written by Samantha Power, who that same month was appointed to the National Security Council, as director for multilateral affairs by President Barack Obama.

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs

As at 2011, Cooper served on the Board of Directors for The Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The Council "is committed to influencing the discourse on global issues through contributions to opinion and policy formation, leadership dialogue, and public learning."

On Delegation to Kiev

On April 21, 1987, a group of Chicagoans arrived in the Soviet Union to lobby municipal leaders in Kiev, capital of the Ukraine, for an official "sister city" relationship. Leading the delegation was Erwin Salk, chairman of the Chicago Center for US-USSR Relations and Exchanges. The other members of the delegation were Rev. Thomas Baima, assistant director of the Office of Human Relations and Ecumenism for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese; Margaret Burroughs, vice president and commissioner of the Park District and founder of the Du Sable Museum of Afro-American History, and her husband, Charles Burroughs, former museum assistant curator; Richard Cooper; Robert Estes, president of Five Star International, an independent film company; Sondra Gair of WBEZ Radio; Sylvia Herrera, park district vice president and commissioner and assistant vice president of De Paul; and Richard Farkas, political science professor at De Paul University. Salk brought with him a letter from Mayor Harold Washington for Velentin Zgyrsky, whose position in the Kiev city government may be likened to mayor. The letter read in part, "I would like to extend a personal invitation to you to visit Chicago and meet with me and representatives of the sister city committee."

Chicago Center for US/USSR Relations and Exchanges

As at May 13, 1988, Richard Cooper, Assistant to the President, Salk Ward & Salk, served on the Board of Directors of the Chicago Center for US/USSR Relations and Exchanges.

References

Template:Reflist