Franklin S. Cooper

April 29, 1908 to February 20, 1999

Former Director, Haskins Laboratories, Inc.
Former President and Research Director, Haskins Laboratories, 1955-1975

Born: April 29, 1908, Robinson, Illinois

B.S. 1931 University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois Engineering Physics, (Honors)
Ph.D. 1936 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Physics, Cambridge, Mass

Member, Board of Directors, Haskins Laboratories, 1939-
Associate Research Director, Haskins Laboratories, 1975-1986
President and Research Director, Haskins Laboratories, 1955-1975
Associate Research Director, Haskins Laboratories, 1939-1955
Research Engineer, General Electric Research Laboratories, 1936-1939

Honors

Sigma XI; Honors of the Assoc. (ASHA)
Fellow, Acoustical Society of America
Fellow, Inst. of Electrical & Electronic Engineers
President’s Certificate of Merit, 1948
IEEE Pioneer Award in Speech Communication, 1972
Warren Medal (SEP) 1975
Silver Medal in Speech Communication (ASA) 1975
Member, National Academy of Engineering, 1976
Honorary D.Sc. Degree, Yale University, 1976
Fletcher-Stevens Award, Brigham Young University, 1977

Science-related activities

a) Adjunct Professor of Linguistics, University of Connecticut, 1969-1976
b) Senior Research Associate in Linguistics, Yale University, 1970-1976
c) Member, National Advisory Neurological and Communicative Disorders and
Stroke Council, NIH, 1978-1981
d) Chairman, Communicative Sciences Interdisciplinary Cluster, President’s
Biomedical Research Panel, 1975
e) Member of Board of Directors, Center for Applied Linguistics, 1968-1974
f) Adjunct Professor of Phonetics, Columbia University, 1955-1965
g) Member, Advisory Committee, Research Division of College of Engineering,
New York University, 1949-1965
h) Member, Visiting Committee, Modern Language Department, M.I.T., 1949-1965
i) Consultant, Office of Secretary of Defense, 1949-1950
j) Scientific Consultant to Atomic Energy Commission Group, U.N. Secretariat, 1946-1947
k) War service (on leave from Haskins Laboratories) as Liaison Officer and
Senior Liaison Officer in Office of Scientific Research and Development, 1941-1946

Major Research Interests

Speech perception, production, and synthesis.

Publications

Speech Perception, Production, and Processing

Cooper, F. S. Spectrum analysis. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1950, 22, 761-762.

Cooper, F. S., Liberman, A. M., & Borst, J. M. The interconversion of audible and visible patterns as a basis for research in the perceptionof speech. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 1951, 37, 318-325.

Cooper, F. S., Delattre, P. C., Liberman, A. M., Borst, J. M., & Gerstman,L. J. Some experiments on the perception of synthetic speech sounds. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1952, 24, 597-606.

Liberman, A. M., Ingemann, F., Lisker, L., Delattre, P. C., & Cooper, F. S. Minimal rules for synthesizing speech. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1959, 31, 1490-1499.

Liberman, A. M., Cooper, F. S., Harris, K. S., & MacNeilage, P. F. A motor theory of speech perception. Proceedings of the Speech Communication Seminar, Stockholm, 1962.

Cooper, F. S., Liberman, A. M., Lisker, L., & Gaitenby, J. H. Speech synthesis by rules. Proceedings of the Speech Communication Seminar, Stockholm, 1962.

Cooper, F. S. Speech synthesizers. Proceedings of the 4th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, (Helsinki, 1961). The Hague: Mouton & Co., 1962.

Cooper, F. S. Instrumental methods for research in phonetics. Proceedings of the 5th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, (Munster). Basel: S. Karger, 1964, 142-171.

Liberman, A. M., Cooper, F. S., Shankweiler, D. P., & Studdert-Kennedy, M. Perception of the speech code. Psychological Review, 1967, 74, 431-461.

Cooper, F. S., & Mattingly, I. G. Computer-controlled PCM system for investigation of dichotic speech perception. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1969, 46, 115.

Sawashima, M., Abramson, A. S., Cooper, F. S., & Lisker, L. Observing laryngeal adjustments during running speech by use of a fiberoptics system. Phonetica, 1970, 22, 193-201.

Bolt, R. H., Cooper, F. S., David, E. E., Jr., Denes, P. B., Pickett, J. M., & Stevens, K. N. Identification of a speaker by speech spectrograms. Science, 1969, 166, 338-343.

Bolt, R. H., Cooper, F. S., David, E. E., Jr., Denes, P. B., Pickett, J. M., & Stevens, K. N. Speaker identification by speech spectrograms: A scientists’ view of its reliability for legal purposes. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1970, 47, 597-612.

Cooper, F. S., Abramson, A. S., Sawashima, M., & Lisker, L. Looking at the larynx during running speech. Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology, 1971, 80, 678.

Liberman, A. M., & Cooper, F. S. In search of the acoustic cues. In A. Valdman (Ed.), Papers on linguistics and phonetics in memory of Pierre Delattre. The Hague: Mouton, 1972, 329-338.

Cooper, F. S. Machines and speech. Research Trends in Computational Linguistics. Arlington, Va.: Center for Applied Linguistics, 1972, 38-66.

Cooper, F. S. How is language conveyed by speech? In J. F. Kavanagh & I. G. Mattingly (Eds.), Language by ear and by eye: The relationships between speech and reading. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1972, 25-45.

Cooper, F. S. Communicative sciences, Report of the President’s Biomedical Research Panel. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1976, App. A, 177-210.

Cooper, F. S. Observations on speech research: Objectives, strategies, and some partial answers, Languages and Linguistics Symposium 1977. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1977, 1.1-1.20.

Cooper, F. S., Mermelstein, P., & Nye, P. W. Speech synthesis as a tool for the study of speech production. In M. Sawashima & F. S. Cooper (Eds.), Dynamic aspects of speech production. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1978, 307-322.

Cooper, F. S. Some reflections on speech research. Invited talk at Conference on the Production of Speech, Austin, Texas. April 28-30, 1980. (In P. MacNeilage (Ed.) The production of speech. New York: Springer-Verlag.

Cooper, F. S. Acoustics in human communication: Evolving ideas about the nature of speech. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1980, 68, 18-21.

Sensory Aids for the Deaf and Blind

Cooper, F. S. Guidance devices for the blind. Phys Today, 1950, 3, 6-14.

Cooper, F. S. Toward a high-performance reading machine for the blind. In Bennet, Degan, & Spiegel (Eds.), Human factors in technology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1963.

Cooper, F. S., Gaitenby, J. H., Mattingly, I. G., & Umeda, N. Reading aids for the blind: A special case of machine-to-man communication. IEEE Transactions on Audio and Electroacoustics, 1969, AU-17, 266-270.

Cooper, F. S., Gaitenby, J. H., & Nye, P. W. Evolution of Reading Machines for the Blind: Haskins Laboratories’ Research as a Case History. Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 1984, Vol. 2l, No. 1., 51-87.

Radiation Biophysics

Cooper, F. S., Buchwald, C. E., Haskins, C. P., & Evans, R. D. Electron bombardment of biological materials: I. An electron tube for the production of homogeneous beams of cathode rays from one to fifteen kilovolts. Review of Scientific Instrumentation, 1939, 10, 74-77.

Zahl, P. A., & Cooper, F. S. Physical and biological considerations in the use of slow neutrons for cancer therapy. Radiology, 1940, 37, 673-682.

Zahl, P. A., & Cooper, F. S. Localization of lithium in tumor tissue as a basis for slow neutron therapy. Science, 1941, 93, 64-65.

Charlton, E. E., & Cooper, F. S. Dielectric strength of insulating fluids. I. Electric breakdown strengths of certain gases and gas-vapor mixtures. General Electric Review, 1937, 438-442.

Pollock, H. C., & Cooper, F. S. The effect of pressure on the positive point-to-plane discharge in N2, 02, C02, S02, SF6, CCl2I2, A, He, and H2. Phys Rev, 1939, 56, 170-175.

Spectroscopy of the Vacuum Ultraviolet

Kruger, P. G., & Cooper, F. S. Twenty-one foot grazing incidence vacuum spectrograph. Phys Rev, 1932, 42, 910.

Cooper, F. S., & Kruger, P. G. Standard wave-lengths in the copper spectrum in the region 80A to 650A. Phys Rev, 1933, 44, 324.

Kruger, P. G., & Cooper, F. S. Standard copper wave-lengths in the region 100A to 450A. Phys Rev, 1933, 44, 826.

General

Cooper, F. S. Location and extent of industrial research activity in the United States. Research–A national resource. II. Industrial research. Sec. LV. Washington, D.C.: National Resources Planning Board, Government Printing Office, 1940.

Cooper, F. S. Haskins Laboratories: Research on human communication, marine ecology, and the biochemistry of protozoa. Science, 1967, 158, 1213-1215.