Alan Cooper has spent the past 40 years of his life in public service. He joined the Garden City Park Fire Department on his 18th birthday and quickly rose to the rank of Rescue Captain and Engine Lieutenant. He became an Emergency Medical Technician at the age of 18, and later a New York State Certified and Nationally Registered Paramedic.  In 1993 he was elected Garden City Park Water/Fire Commissioner and served four terms.  During his tenure on the Board of Commissioners, he played a significant role in revamping our fire equipment, replacing virtually the entire fleet of outdated emergency vehicles, including two new state of the art ambulances, and rebuilding Fire Headquarters, which was originally built in 1921.

 

On the water side, he led the effort to overhaul the water distribution infrastructure replacing outdated pump equipment and water mains throughout the district. Additionally, he approved the construction of a new water purification station to avoid the need to chlorinate our water supply (which unfortunately is now done). With all this investment, his fiscal management was outstanding, and in his first year on the board, he reduced our water tax rate. When he left office, Dr. Cooper ran for the New Hyde Park/ Garden City Park School Board and served five years as a school board trustee. Again, bringing his management and finance skills, he led the effort to overhaul antiquated systems and processes to benefit the students of the district, this also resulted in significant financial savings across the school district. In 2008 he was appointed to the Town of North Hempstead Housing Authority, where he currently serves as Commissioner overseeing five housing developments across the town.

 

Professionally, Dr. Cooper is currently the Associate Dean of the Willumstad School of Business at Adelphi University and the owner of a consulting firm specializing in process improvement and organizational development.  Before that, he was the Chief People and Performance Officer at White Plains Hospital in Westchester, where he was responsible for operational performance and strategic human resources. He spent the first two decades of his career with the North Shore – LIJ Health System (now Northwell Health) as Vice President for Learning and Innovation. In this role, he developed and ran the health system's "corporate university," the largest of its kind in healthcare, serving over 43,000 employees. He also helped develop and run the Health System’s clinical simulation lab and medical school.

 

Dr. Cooper holds a Ph.D. in experimental psychology and an MBA (with distinction) in management from Adelphi University, as well as a Master’s in Education from the University of Cincinnati. He is a nationally recognized speaker in the areas of process improvement and organizational development. He has published several articles and book chapters, including chapters on leadership development and corporate education. Dr. Cooper has also held the positions of Clinical Professor for the Willumstad School of Business at Adelphi University, Adjunct Associate Professor at the Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University, and Associate Dean for Knowledge Management at the Hofstra North Shore – LIJ School of Medicine. He lives in New Hyde Park with his wife and two children.