Roger J. Cooper
E-mail: rjcooper@sover.net
I was born in Mexico City, educated in Mexico and England. I studied Chemical Engineering at the Universidad IberoAmericana (1968) in Mexico City and then received BSc's in both Physics and in Chemistry in San Diego California. After doing research with Procter and Gamble in Mexico City on Laundry detergents, I entered the Banking Industry. The remainder of my career, I was in the investment banking business living in Guatemala City, Tegucigalpa, Honduras and Caracas Venezuela. in 1984 I came to the USA and continued my career in Banking and upon my retirement in March 1996, I was responsible for all of the investment banking for the Western Hemisphere for Chase Manhattan Bank. I traveled extensively to every country in the Americas and Europe as well as some Asian countries. My wife and I live in Vermont and have two sons and two grandchildren. During my life overseas, I did research on a variety of subjects and wrote "Ecology and Physiology of the Algae" as well as teaching and writing the text book "Sistemas de Información Bancarias" for the Faculty of Computer Engineering at the "Universidad Metropolitana" in Caracas, Venezuela. I found that a key to success in working in the international arena was the benefit of speaking four languages - Spanish, French, Portuguese and English.I have always been interested in Archaeology and started visiting sites in Mexico in the early 1950's. While living in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, I was able to visit many of the Maya sites. However, it was not until my retirement that I was able to dedicate myself, on a more or less full-time basis, to formal study in the field. In 1997, Dr. Gary Gossen persuaded me to enroll in the Anthropology department at SUNY, where I continue to pursue my interest in Mesoamerican Linguistics under the advisement of Dr. John Justeson. My research is focused on the analysis of the mathematical configuration of the dates, as well as the epigraphy and iconography in the Maya Codices. To better understand the Codices, I am attempting to learn Yucatec and understand better the entire field of Linguistics, particularly as it applies to Mayan Languages.