The University of Pittsburgh’s Rory Cooper has dedicated his career to improving the lives of people with disabilities through assistive technology, especially advances in wheelchairs. That crusade has now earned him the nation’s highest honor for technological achievement.

At the White House in October, President Joe Biden awarded Cooper the National Medal of Technology and Innovation for his work, which has included the first smart wheelchairs and the first ergonomic rims. He joins a list of laureates that began with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1985. Pitt alumni Herbert Boyer and Nobelist Paul Lauterbur, pioneers in gene splicing and MRI technology respectively, have also received the medal.

Cooper is a PhD Distinguished Professor and FISA and Paralyzed Veterans of America Professor of Rehabilitation Science and Technology who also holds appointments in orthopaedic surgery, physical medicine and rehabilitation, bioengineering and mechanical engineering.

He has a personal connection to his work: While he was stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army at the age of 20, a bus collided with him while he was riding a bicycle. The injury left him paralyzed from the waist down.

Cooper, whose work has resulted in more than 20 U.S. patents, is also Pitt’s first assistant vice chancellor for research for STEM-health sciences collaborations.

In his letter nominating Cooper for the award, Rob Rutenbar, Pitt’s senior vice chancellor for research, notes that he has worked with many remarkable scientists and scholars in his career. “Few manifest with impacts across as many areas of vital national interest as Rory—with contributions ranging from fundamental science to unique, commercialized assistive technologies.”

The award adds to a long list of accolades for Cooper, a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and American Association for the Advancement of Science. In October, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Speaking recently with Pittsburgh NPR affiliate WESA, Cooper said that the city offers a great collaborative environment for his work—as well as physical and meteorological features that put his inventions to the test. “We have weather, we have hills. You can kind of test everything here.

“If it works in Pittsburgh, it probably would work pretty much everywhere.”

Read more from the Winter 2024 issue.