Patrick Cooper Ph.D.
ii. — Work

A body
of work.

Four threads, one practice: building community, serving on boards, teaching, and research.

01Featured

Community Forge

In 2017, Pittsburgh Learning Commons and Xpogo partnered to save the former Johnston Elementary School at 1256 Franklin Avenue in Wilkinsburg. Eight co-founders bought the building from the school board that July and volunteered thousands of hours over the next three years to bring it back to life.

Today Community Forge is a full-time organization working on equitable community development. It runs youth programs, workforce and economic-mobility support, CURE Violence East, cultural events like Forge Fest, and co-working space for local businesses. As Director of Programs, I oversee this portfolio.

Program · Tech literacy

BootUp PGH

Short for Building Our Own Technology Uplifting the People. It brings devices and digital skills to young people in under-resourced communities, in partnership with Pittsburgh Public Schools, with hundreds of donated laptops, phones and tablets.

Organization · STEAM

Pittsburgh Learning Commons

A STEAM education nonprofit in Wilkinsburg that I co-founded and serve as Co-Executive Director. It was one of the two founding partners of Community Forge.

Organization · Nonprofit

Locally Grown

The nonprofit that operates Community Forge. I'm a co-founder and board member.

02Board service

Governance & stewardship

Serving on boards is how I help good institutions last. That covers a public school district's budget, a progressive high school, an education-technology nonprofit, and an international agriculture nonprofit.

I President of the Board

Hagush

A global nonprofit supporting smallholder family farms in Sub-Saharan Africa. It helps farmers afford digital devices and connects them to agri-tech, markets and credit, with the aim of closing the gap in yield and income.

hagush.org ↗
II Treasurer · Chair, Finance Committee

Wilkinsburg School District Board

An elected school director who oversees the district's finances, from budget planning to fiscal accountability, for the community I work in every day.

wilkinsburgschools.org ↗
III Board Member · Former Teacher

City of Bridges High School

A progressive, project-based independent high school in Pittsburgh built on mindfulness, knowledge, experience, justice and community. I taught there before joining its board.

IV Founding Board Member

EdTech4Kids

A founding member of the board, helping shape the organization from the start.

03Chronology

Selected record

  1. Present

    Director of Programs

    Community Forge · Wilkinsburg, PA

    Leads the organization's programs across youth education, technology access, workforce development and community culture.

    Community
  2. Ongoing

    BootUp PGH

    Community Forge · with Pittsburgh Public Schools

    Teaches tech literacy and helps lead a program that puts devices and digital confidence in the hands of young people.

    Community
  3. Ongoing

    Co-Executive Director

    Pittsburgh Learning Commons

    Co-founded and co-directs a STEAM education nonprofit in Wilkinsburg.

    Community
  4. Present

    President of the Board

    Hagush · hagush.org

    Leads the board of a global nonprofit supporting smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

    Service
  5. Present

    Treasurer & Chair, Finance Committee

    Wilkinsburg School District Board of Directors

    Oversees the district's budget and finances.

    Service
  6. Present

    Board Member

    City of Bridges High School

    Governance for a progressive, project-based independent high school.

    Service
  7. Founding

    Founding Board Member

    EdTech4Kids

    Helped establish the organization's board.

    Service
  8. 2017

    Co-founder, Community Forge

    Former Johnston Elementary School

    One of eight founders who bought the closed school and turned it into a hub that now houses 40+ local organizations and entrepreneurs.

    Community
  9. Spring 2027

    Instructor, History of Arabic Science

    Osher Lifelong Learning Institute · University of Pittsburgh

    Teaching the history of Arabic science to lifelong learners at Pitt's Osher Institute.

    Teaching
  10. 2025 –

    Adjunct Professor of Mechatronics

    Community College of Allegheny County

    Teaching mechatronics since the summer of 2025.

    Teaching
  11. 2022 –

    Adjunct Professor of Physics

    Duquesne University

    Continued undergraduate physics instruction on an adjunct basis after moving on from the full-time faculty.

    Teaching
  12. 2016 – 2022

    Assistant Professor of Physics

    Duquesne University

    Taught over 50 courses across the undergraduate physics curriculum, chaired the faculty senate's DEI subcommittee, co-led the Start Play Hack student group adapting toys for infants and toddlers with disabilities, and won the John G. Rangos award for innovative teaching.

    Teaching
  13. —

    Teacher

    City of Bridges High School · Pittsburgh

    Taught at a progressive, project-based independent high school, and later joined its board.

    Teaching
  14. 2016 – 2017

    Assistant Professor of Mathematics

    University of Pittsburgh

    Taught mathematics ranging from elementary algebra to senior-level numerical linear algebra in the undergraduate curriculum.

    Teaching
  15. —

    Instructor

    New York University · Cooper Union

    Part-time teaching in Manhattan during and after doctoral work.

    Teaching
  16. 2016

    Two papers on confinement in QCD

    Physical Review D 93 · with Daniel Zwanziger

    Origin of Confining Force and Local QCD Action at Finite Temperature.

    Research
  17. 2015

    Ph.D., Theoretical Physics

    New York University

    Doctoral work in effective string theory and the Gribov ambiguity in quantum chromodynamics.

    Research
  18. 2014

    Strings and the “wrong sign”

    Phys. Rev. D 89 · JHEP 2015 · with Sergei Dubovsky et al.

    Living with the Wrong Sign and Looking for Integrability on the Worldsheet of Confining Strings.

    Research
  19. 2010

    B.S., Mathematics & Physics

    University of Pittsburgh

    Double major.

    Education