The Wistar Institute Announces the Appointment of Scott Cooper, Ph.D., Richard G. Phillips, Jr., and Steven V. Abramson to Its Board of Trustees

PHILADELPHIA — (Oct. 13, 2020) — The Wistar Institute is pleased to welcome Scott Cooper, Ph.D., Richard G. Phillips Jr., Esq., and Steven V. Abramson, to its Board of Trustees. The new trustees bring diverse expertise and perspectives to the mission of the Institute.

An international museum professional and heritage preservation expert, Scott Cooper, Ph.D., is the president and CEO of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. He has dedicated his career to protecting, promoting and transforming cultural sites and institutions around the world. Cooper will serve on Wistar’s Board of Trustees as one of two representatives of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, a requirement of Wistar’s governing documents.

Before joining the Academy, he was vice president of collections, knowledge and engagement at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria, Canada; director of museums at the Qatar Foundation in Doha, Qatar; and CEO of the Fulham Palace Trust in London, U.K.

Cooper studied engineering at the University of Manchester and architectural conservation at Edinburgh College of Art. He was awarded a UNESCO scholarship to study stone conservation in Venice and subsequently returned to Edinburgh to complete his doctoral research on Scottish history.

Richard G. Phillips, Jr., Esq., is a visiting fellow at Yale Divinity School. He is also the co-founder of Keepers of the Commons, an initiative that places human dignity at the center of private enterprise and entrepreneurship and creates new opportunities for the development of overlooked nonprofit community leaders by expanding access to well-established policy and events.

Previously, he successfully managed his family’s business, Pilot Freight Services, leading it through a restructuring that modernized the company and significantly increased its revenues. Phillips also served as a counsel to senators on the U.S. Senate Committee on The Judiciary and as a trial attorney in the Department of Justice.

He is heavily involved in the community and received the 2013 Maguire Award for Outstanding Service to the Philadelphia Community among other honors.

Phillips received a bachelor’s degree in history from Yale University, a master’s degree in international relations from Cambridge University and a J.D. from Georgetown University.

Steven V. Abramson is president and CEO of Universal Display Corporation and has been a member of its Board of Directors since 1996. He has spent most of his career supporting the creation and growth of new technologies such as OLEDs, digital cellular radio and fostering the development of sustainable environmental technologies.

He also serves on the boards of a number of charitable and educational organizations.

Abramson received a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Bucknell University, a master’s degree in international relations and philosophy of science from Ohio State University and a J.D. from Temple University.

“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Scott, Richard and Steven to the leadership of the Wistar community. All three are amazing and transformative leaders not just in their immediate areas of interest but, more broadly, in a variety of disparate disciplines and venues. What they bring to the table is decades-long success, a culture of excellence and a vision of innovation that are perfect matches to the goals and aspirations of The Wistar Institute of the present and future. I truly look forward to closely working with these inspirational leaders to advance the mission of the Institute in global health and bring about the kind of scientific breakthroughs that change society and improve the lives of millions,” said Dario C. Altieri, M.D., Wistar president and CEO.

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The Wistar Institute is an international leader in biomedical research with special expertise in cancer research and vaccine development. Founded in 1892 as the first independent nonprofit biomedical research institute in the United States, Wistar has held the prestigious Cancer Center designation from the National Cancer Institute since 1972. The Institute works actively to ensure that research advances move from the laboratory to the clinic as quickly as possible. wistar.org.