# Cary Cooper

Sir Cary Lynn Cooper CBE FAcSS (born 28 April 1940), is an American-born British psychologist and 50th Anniversary Professor of Organizational Psychology and Health at the Manchester Business School, University of Manchester.

## Career

Before moving to Manchester he was Distinguished Professor at Lancaster University. Cooper was Head of the Manchester School of Management (within UMIST) from the early 1980s. In 1995 he became Pro-Vice-Chancellor and then Deputy Vice-Chancellor of UMIST until 2002. From 1979 to 1980 he was chairman of the Management Education and Development Division of the Academy of Management and was elected as Founding President of the British Academy of Management. In June 2005 he was appointed head of the Sunningdale Institute, which, managed by the United Kingdom National School of Government, brings international academics and industry figures together to advise on issues facing UK public sector organisations. In 2008, Cooper was appointed lead scientist for the UK government's Foresight programme and Report on Mental Capital and Wellbeing. He was chair of the Academy of Social Sciences, a body representing over 88,000 social scientists and 46 learned societies in the social sciences (including the Royal Geographical Society, British Psychological Society, the Political Studies Association, and the Royal Statistical Society). In 2010 he was chair of the Chronic Diseases and Mental Health Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum. He is immediate past president of Relate, Clinical Advisor to Anxiety UK, President of the Institute of Welfare, Past President of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development 2016–2021, Chair of the National Forum for Health & Wellbeing at Work (2016-) and past president of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. Cooper was a director of well-being specialists and business psychologists at Robertson Cooper Limited, a university spin off company which he set up in 1999 with Ivan Robertson. He was the founding editor-in-chief of the Journal of Organizational Behavior,founding co-editor of the International Journal of Management Reviews, Editor-in-Chief of the Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management (12 volumes & now in 3rd Edition), and past editor of the journal Stress and Health.
Cooper's parents were Jews from Romania and Ukraine who settled in West Hollywood. He became a British citizen in 1993.

## Education

Cooper went to Fairfax High School and then obtained a BSc (UCLA), an M.B.A. (UCLA), and a PhD (Leeds University, UK).

## Recognition

Cooper has received the following awards from professional and academic organizations:
* 1986-1990 Elected Founding President of the British Academy of Management
* 1994 Fellow of the British Academy of Management
* 1994 Elected a Fellow of the (British) Institute of Management
* 1997 Elected by the (American) Academy of Management as one of the first UK Fellows
* 1997 Became a Companion of the Institute of Management (now the Chartered Management Institute)
* 1998 Awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the (American) Academy of Management for services to the field of management
* 1998 Awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh) for contributions to organizational psychology
* 1999 Awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration by Wolverhampton University
* 2000-2004 Elected as President of the British Academy of Management
* 2002 Awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science by Aston University
* 2003 Awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Middlesex University
* 2005 Cooper was elected as an Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians
* 2006 Cooper was made Hon Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians
* 2007 Cooper was appointed by the UK's Chief Scientist as the Lead Scientist for the UK government's Foresight Report on Mental Capital and Wellbeing
* 2008 Awarded Hon Fellow of the British Psychological Society
* 2008 Cooper was made an Hon Fellow of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland
* 2008 Cooper was selected as chair of the Academy of Social Sciences (body of nearly 90,000 social scientists and 47 learned societies).
* 2009 Cooper was appointed chair of the Chronic Diseases Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum.
* 2010 Awarded the Lord Dearing Lifetime Achievement Award for Higher Education by THE
* 2011 Awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science by University of Sheffield
* 2012 Awarded Hon Fellowship of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health
* 2014 Awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Bath
* 2014 Elected as President of the British Academy of Management
* 2015 Elected as CIPD President
* 2017 Awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science by the University of Chester
* 2018 Awarded the WFPMA Petitpas Award for Distinguished Service to the Global HR Profession by the World Federation of People Management Associations, Chicago.
* 2019 Awarded the Chris Arygris Lifetime Achievement Award by the Academy of Management, Boston.
* 2019 Awarded an Honorary Doctor of Education by the University of Bolton
* 2020 Winner of the New York City Big Book Award for the Book of the Year in Marketing & PR for The Apology Impulse
* 2020 Winner of the American Book Fest Award for the Book of the Year in Communications/PR for the Apology Impulse
* 2021 Awarded Companion of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
* 2021 Awarded ISMA Federation International Medal for lifetime achievement, India
* 2021 Bank of England Flagship Lecture ‘Mental Capital & Wellbeing’
* 2022 Endowed Chair and Lecture Theatre named after Sir Cary Cooper at Woxsen University, India
* 2022 Patron, International Stress Management Association
* 2023 Awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the IOBC in Israel on January 3,2023.
* 2024 Ranked the 4th Best Business & Management Scientist in the World by Research.com, April 19, 2024

## Queen's Birthday Honours

Cooper was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by The Queen in the 2001 Birthday Honours for his contribution to occupational/organizational health and was Knighted by the Queen in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to the social sciences.

## Media work

Cooper has been described as the media's first choice for comment on workplace issues, and is often interviewed by the UK press (including BBC and ITV) for both news and current affairs.