About Tom
Professor Tom Cooper
taught ethics and media studies at Emerson College. He was a guest scholar at Stanford, Berkeley, the East-West Center and the University of Hawaii during his last sabbatical and at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Oxford, and Cambridge during the preceding sabbatical. The Association for Responsible Communication, which he founded, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Cooper taught at Harvard, where he graduated magna cum laude, and recently served as an “ethics expert” at a United Nations project in Vienna and Athens. A former assistant to Marshall McLuhan, he was a consultant to the Elders Project, which involved Nelson Mandela, Kofi Anan and Jimmy Carter. Cooper is a playwright with a Ph.D. in theater and media, a union musician who trained at the Royal Conservatory, poet, black belt, blogger and author of eight books and more than two hundred academic and professional articles and reviews. His latest book, WISDOM WEAVERS, available via Amazon, is about the two highly perceptive thinkers, Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan, who first alerted us to the extraordinary, often hidden impact that each communication medium has had upon history, our lives, and our “global village”. His musical, “HIGHER! HIGHER!” will premiere in October, 2025 at the TAG theater in Honolulu and his previous book, DOING THE RIGHT THING, about twelve of the most difficult and influential ethical decisions ever made, is available to purchase here.
Some people who inspire me (please click on the arrows)
Tom with Emerson a cappella group, Acappellics, at a Boston charity event.
Tom and his wife, Eileen.
Tom at Sunrise Ranch with Emissary friends.
Tom and his daughter, Angelica.
Tom with Anantha Babbili, Al Gore, and Clifford Christians at Media Ethics Summit in 2008.
Tom and his band, Sundance.
Tom at the entrance to the UN in Vienna.
Sundance performing at Carnegie Hall.
Tom with Emerson College leaders Provost Michaele Whelan, Chair Bob Colby, and President Lee Pelton.
Toasting Emerson college with international student friends at a special dinner.
The Spirit of Emerson
THE SPIRIT OF EMERSON was founded by Tom, as supported by President Lee Pelton, to increase the college’s spirit and to acknowledge individuals and groups at Emerson College, who exemplify the spirit of exceptional inspiration within the college community. V.P. Andy Tiedemann, A.V.P. Sharon Duffy, instructor Jeremy Heflin, Professor Eiki Satake, WARC leader Jaqi Holland, Rabbi Al Axelrad, and exceptional students Raz Moayed, Gabby Kula, Dylan Loftin, Rebecca Fluhr, and Brandon Smith have created an uplifting team over a nine year period. Every year Tom and his wife take students without families or far from home to a special Thanksgiving/National Day of Mourning dinner at Legal Seafood (pictured on left) as one of several Spirit of Emerson activities.