Dr. Joseph N. Cooper
Dr. Joseph N. Cooper is the inaugural Dr. J. Keith Motley Endowed Chair of Sport Leadership and Administration at the University of Massachusetts Boston, and brings to the PCA/NE Board deep expertise in sport management, gender and race in sport, racism and other forms of oppression, higher education, and qualitative research. An award-winning professor and researcher, Dr. Cooper earned his undergraduate degrees in Sociology and Recreation Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH), master's degree in Sport Administration in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science from UNC-CH, and doctorate in Kinesiology with a concentration in Sport Management and Policy from the University of Georgia. Dr. Cooper has also served as an associate professor at the University of Connecticut in the Sport Management program in Department of Educational Leadership and Neag School of Education.
Dr. Cooper’s research focuses on the intersection between sport, education, race, and culture with an emphasis on sport involvement as a catalyst for holistic development. He is also the faculty founder of Collective Uplift (CU), an organization designed to educate, empower, inspire, and support individuals to maximize their holistic potential both within and beyond athletic contexts. He has presented research at international, national, and regional conferences and published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, edited books, and op-ed contributions. As a result of his research, he has been cited in various media outlets including the New York Times, Boston Globe, ESPN, Le Monde, ABC News, Yahoo, and Diverse Issues in Higher Education. He is the author of “From Exploitation Back to Empowerment: Black Male Holistic (Under)Development Through Sport and (Mis)Education” (Peter Lang).
Dr. Cooper and his wife Monique have two daughters, Nia and Natalie. Dr. Cooper has played basketball and soccer, and names basketball as his favorite sport. Dr. Cooper appreciates the transformative power of coaching, and says “I look forward to working together to promote and create positive change in sport leadership.”