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James H.S. Cooper

Distinguished Scholar in Residence
Adjunct Professor of Law

Jim Cooper represented two Tennessee districts in the U.S. House of Representatives between 1983 to 2023: District 4 from 1983 to 1995 and District 5 from 2003 to 2023. During his service in Congress, he sponsored 144 bills and co-sponsored 3,657. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Senate in 1994. A Nashville native, Rep. Cooper was a Morehead Scholar at the University of North Carolina and a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University in Oxford, England, before earning his J.D. at Harvard Law School. In addition to his service in Congress, Rep. Cooper has worked as an attorney in private practice and as an investment banker.