For her longstanding dedication to Adams State University, the Foundation Board will present Jenny Cooper with the Willis Fassett Jr. Award at the Annual Donor and Student Recognition Dinner on October 10.
The award, which includes the Buffalo Chant bronze, created by William Moyers ’39, honors individuals and organizations with an exceptional record of support for Adams State’s educational mission.
In 2002, seven years after retiring from a three-decade career in the telecommunications industry, Jenny Cooper found her calling.
She had been part of a team chosen to begin the wireless company Cingular, now AT&T, during the mid-1990s. Her sharp mind and ability to connect with others were important business-world assets.
When she married her husband, Dr. Jack Cooper, she relocated from Atlanta to the San Luis Valley — a region defined more by open fields than fiber optics — she looked for opportunities to employ her public-service heart.
Her husband was a dentist by vocation, a history buff by avocation and would dedicate 41 years to Adams State, first as an adjunct professor of biology and later as an emeritus lecturer. In 2002, the late Attorney George Woodard asked him if he knew someone who could complete the term of an ill member of the Adams State University Foundation Board of Trustees.
Yes, he said — the extremely impressive woman who had agreed to marry him.
Woodard talked to Jenny Cooper about the Foundation Board’s role and the important work of its committees, and she happily agreed to fill in for a few meetings.
The quick stint turned into 21 years of dedicated service for Cooper at Adams State, including multiple terms as president of the Foundation Board (2004-2010). During that period, she told the AStater, “If you want to get involved and make something work well, it’s going to take a lot of time. It has to be your passion and love. You can’t count the hours.”
On her watch, the Foundation increased its focus on proactive fundraising, relying less on contributions from the State of Colorado. She and her fellow Board members also began targeting larger foundations and corporations that support higher education, in addition to connecting with individual donors.
All the while, Cooper felt energized and humbled by the responsibility of serving as a good steward of each donation, ensuring that unrestricted gifts were compatible with Adams State’s top priorities.
Her presidency was not easy. Jack Cooper passed away in 2006, and soon after, the financial crisis cut into donations and budgets. Through it all, Jenny Cooper worked tirelessly and compassionately, spearheading successful strategies to grow the Foundation’s assets and advance the university’s initiatives.
From 2008-2011, Adams State completed $62 million worth of new construction and renovation, including rehabilitation of Rex Activity Center, building a new stadium and multiple athletic fields, adding a 300kW solar rooftop onto Plachy Hall, remodeling of key academic buildings and residences, and more.
“Many of these young folks are the first ones in their families to get a university education, and that’s so special,” she says. “Through its direct support and provision of scholarships, as well as its support of other initiatives at the university, the continuing work of the Foundation is so important. Many people over the years have contributed to the success of Adams State.”
Cooper moved away from the San Luis Valley in 2012, but still feels a special kinship with the local community.
“Adams State is such an important part of the Valley,” she says. “I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to give back to an institution that cares so deeply about every person who becomes part of it.”
