Hope L. Cooper has been appointed Acting Commissioner of the Department of Personnel.

Hope L. Cooper was appointed acting commissioner of the Department of Personnel by Governor Jon S. Corzine on May 2, 2008. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Cooper was the Director of Administration for the Office of the Governor where she has overseen Executive branch appointment approval and processing, hiring and promotional freeze administration and executive salary management.

In that position Hope worked closely with the Department to shape and implement human resource policy for the State’s executive-branch agencies. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Cooper served as the Chief of Staff at the NJ Department of Personnel.

As Acting Commissioner she will work closely with DOP employees on the upcoming transition.

Ms. Cooper practiced law in both the public and private sectors for 10 years prior to joining State government -- most recently with the Newark Housing Authority. Her areas of expertise include land use and planning, litigation, and intellectual property rights.

She is active in wide array of community organizations, and has served on the boards of EJECT, Inc., the Newark Women’s Conference, and the Central Ward Boys and Girls Club of Newark, New Jersey. She received her Juris Doctorate from the Fordham University School of Law, and holds degrees from New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.