William (Bill) Press Cooper (BScCE'62) is CEO of Cooper Construction, a third-generation family-owned Canadian construction and real estate development company in Oakville, Ontario. He came to UNB's Civil Engineering program from the Hamilton/Burlington area based on a recommendation of a neighbour whose son had attended UNB.
When he graduated in 1962 he went straight to work at the family company, first as a project engineer, working his way up to president and CEO in 1978. Under Bill's leadership, the company has become an industry pioneer in design/build and expanded to commercial and industrial real estate development as well as facilities management.
Bill has served as a director of other corporations including Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Clarica Life Insurance Company, Laidlaw Inc., Ontario Place Corporation, CTV Inc., Stelco Inc. and Cogeco Communications Inc. A deep commitment to serving the community is a family and company tradition that Bill is passionate about. He's served as Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and co-chair of the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital Fundraising Campaign. He was President of the Hamilton Wentworth Business Advisory Council, the Hamilton and District Chamber of Commerce and the Hamilton YMCA. He is a former member of the Board of Governors and past chair of the Business Advisory Council for the business school at McMaster University.
Bill is a generous donor to UNB as well as McMaster University, local hospitals and numerous other organizations. In addition to gifts to UNB's President's Fund and various campaign projects, he also established the prestigious William P. Cooper Scholarship awarded each year to two civil engineering students at UNB.
On January 31st, 2020 Bill was honoured by his alma mater with Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award and inducted into the UNB Engineering Wall of Fame. Bill was congratulated by the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Chris Diduch, along with Chancellor and fellow engineering alumnus Allison McCain.
