Dr. Tom Cooper has spent his career asking a simple but powerful question: What good is business strategy if it doesn’t make a positive difference in the world?

As a professor of strategic management in Memorial University’s Faculty of Business Administration, Dr. Cooper has helped generations of students connect business with community involvement.

And he’s one of our own. He earned his bachelor of commerce (co-op) and bachelor of arts in philosophy here at Memorial. After completing a PhD in business at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom, he spent several years working with PricewaterhouseCoopers in London. Then he made the decision to return to St. John’s.

This blend of international experience and commitment to the place he calls home has helped define his work at Memorial.

In the classroom, he is a beloved teacher known for his engaging teaching style. He teaches courses in strategy, ethics, risk and consulting, challenging students to grapple with messy, real-world problems rather than abstractions with obvious answers.

He’s been a driving force behind Memorial’s work in social enterprise and entrepreneurship.  He’s helped shape programs that show students how business tools can be used to strengthen their communities.

Through initiatives like the MBA in Social Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, he’s positioned Memorial as a place where profit and social purpose aren’t polar opposites.

 

Tom Cooper is chair of SmartICE, the world’s first climate-change adaptation tool to integrate traditional knowledge of sea ice with advanced data acquisition and remote monitoring technology. Photo by Rich Blenkinsopp from Memorial University Archives.

  

Dr. Cooper has played a key advisory role with SmartICE, an award-winning social enterprise that combines Indigenous knowledge and modern technology to monitor sea-ice conditions in northern and coastal communities.

His involvement helped guide the organization as it grew from a promising idea into a nationally recognized program.

And his research on Indigenous entrepreneurship has revealed the opportunities and barriers that Indigenous entrepreneurs face while highlighting business models that balance economic success with cultural integrity. His work supports more inclusive approaches to both business education and policy, approaches grounded in respect and ethical engagement.

Whether advising student entrepreneurs, supporting alumni ventures or working with national mentorship programs, he has consistently invested his time to help others navigate uncertainty, take risks and think strategically about their goals.

For many students, his guidance has meant far more than a university credit. It has generated knowledge with a sense of greater purpose. And for this tireless commitment to helping students find their place in the world, he was awarded the President’s Award for Outstanding Teaching (Faculty) in 2013.

For Dr. Cooper, Memorial is not just a place to earn credentials that will lead to a career. It’s a place where ideas meet action and education meets responsibility.

Over the years, he has strengthened Memorial’s role as a university deeply connected to the world beyond campus. He’s helped our students see strategy not as an abstract exercise, but as a tool for making thoughtful, ethical and lasting change.