Nevertheless, he believed that the education system in this country should break away from the older traditions of Europe and seek to express the cultural developments of the New World.

In one of his last public addresses, Dr. Cooper urged a complete reorganization of the education system in this country to bring the schools into closer harmony with modern conditions.

[7][8] As a senior at the University of California in Berkeley, William John Cooper worked as an assistant in the Department of History.

Fresno's public schools today are operating largely on the basis laid down by Cooper during his five-year term as superintendent.

He served in that position until February 1929,[16] when US President Calvin Coolidge appointed him to be the Eighth United States Commissioner of Education.

It was possibly Wilbur who suggested to President-elect Hoover that Cooper be appointed to the Commissioner of Education position.

[citation needed] He was the author of Economy in Education (1933) and published many papers in professional journals.

"[20][21][22] In 1933, Cooper resigned the position of US Commissioner of Education without giving a reason[23] and became a professor at George Washington University in the District of Columbia.

[30] As president of the senior class,[7] he was selected to give a student address at the commencement ceremony at the University of California (Berkeley) in 1906.

He was a member of the Federal Board for Vocational Education from 1930 to 1933, as well as the District of Columbia Commission on Licensure from 1930 to 1933.

[34] He was a member of the National Society for the Study of Education and also served as director and president of the Bay and Central sections of the California Teachers Association.

[38] In 1929 Cooper oversaw the functioning of the Advisory Committee on Education by Radio, which was set up per the request of the Interior Secretary.

[41] Cooper became engaged to Edna Curtis of Sacramento 10 days before the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, and they were married on Aug. 19, 1908.