Joseph Wilcox Jenkins Cooper ’53

Jay was born in Baltimore, Md., and attended the Gilman School before coming to Princeton. He majored in history and wrote his thesis on Chiang Kai-shek. He was a member of Cap and Gown and sang in the Varsity Glee Club. 

After graduation Jay served two years as a lieutenant in the Army and then became a member of the inaugural MBA class at the University of Virginia. He worked for almost 50 years as a sell-side research analyst at various firms and finally in his own firm, Cooper Wolpert & Margoshes. He lived for some time in Germany and took a particular interest in German language and culture. 

After retiring in 2012, Jay chose to remain close to financial markets by consulting for several solar-energy startups, helping them to identify new investors and making use of his German expertise on their behalf.

In February 1966, Jay married Dorothea Louise “Misty” Phelps, who died in 1996. He married Eleanor Downey in 1998. 

Jay died June 16, 2021. He is survived by Eleanor, his stepson Jim Martinez, his four children, and 10 grandchildren.