Professor Rachel Cooper, President of the DRS, passed away suddenly in July 2025. The DRS has created this remembrance page in tribute to Rachel and to collect memories from Society members who worked with her to advance the field of design research. 

Peter Lloyd, Chair of the DRS

I have worked closely with Rachel for the past 10 years and her death will be a terrible loss. Rachel was utterly unique and irreplaceable. Her strategic thinking, her strong, committed leadership and her incredible work ethic helped to shape so much of what we call design research today. But more than that she was refreshingly straightforward and selfless with her time in mentoring and promoting a whole generation of design researchers. I, and many others, will miss her very, very much.

Robin Roy, DRS Fellow

Rachel was an extremely distinguished teacher, researcher and public academic. The DRS was very fortunate to have had her as its President. Despite all her achievements, Rachel was modest, approachable and friendly. Her premature passing is a tragic loss to the DRS, the worlds of creative and sustainable design research and the people who knew her.