Family and Friends of Dr. Sheldon Cooper

This scholarship was established in 2023 in honor of Dr. Sheldon Cooper’s retirement from UW-Oshkosh.

Dr. Cooper grew up in a rural, agricultural town in northwestern South Dakota. As a kid, he loved sports, the outdoors and school, especially science. He liked school so much he never left. Dr. Cooper received his undergraduate degree in biology from Northern State University, where several of his classes had excellent field work components. He continued to do field work integrated with lab research throughout his career. He received his master’s degree in biology from the University of South Dakota, where his adviser got him interested in studying how small, nonmigratory birds can survive harsh winter conditions. He graduated from Utah State University with a doctorate in biology.

Dr. Cooper’s first tenure-track faculty position was at UW-Stevens Point. In 2001, he joined the faculty at UW-Oshkosh as an animal physiologist. This was an outstanding career choice. He taught human and animal physiology, as well as field ornithology. Active in science outreach, he presented on birds to elementary students throughout Oshkosh. He studied more than a dozen species of birds throughout his career, with the most time spent on chickadees and titmice. Dr. Cooper provided research opportunities for many UWO undergraduate and graduate biology students and served as co-chair of the biology department from 2009 until his retirement in 2023. He was forced to retire before he wanted due to complications with ALS.