Michael Hymie Cooper OBE (né Kupferroth, 15 December 1938 – 15 July 2017)[1] was a British-born economist and one of the first to develop the field of health economics in the 1960s.
Cooper took a position as senior chair in economics at the University of Otago in 1976, where he established the university's first health economics class.
[2] He worked at the university for 18 years, becoming pro vice-chancellor.
[3] He chaired the Otago Area Health Board.
[4] In 1990 he was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal,[5] and in the 1994 New Year Honours, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to health administration.