Remembering Sandy Cohen

In this special edition of The SCAffold, SC&A remembers company founder Sanford “Sandy” Cohen.

Born May 14, 1936, Sanford "Sandy" Cohen was the only child of George and Evelyn Cohen. He grew up loving music and played violin starting in elementary school and was a member of the Youth Orchestra of Greater Chicago. He stayed close to home to attend Northwestern University, where he received a BS in Science Engineering after participating in a work-study program at Argonne National Laboratory.?

He was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study mathematics and physics at Oslo University in Norway. He developed a lifelong love for Norway and later made several visits back to the beautiful country.?

After returning to the U.S., he studied Nuclear Engineering at MIT, and in 1964 received a Doctorate in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Michigan. He took a job in the reactor physics division General Atomics in La Jolla, California, and after a short stop in Connecticut, he settled in McLean, Virginia. After working at SAIC (Science Applications Inc.) and Teknekron Inc., Sandy got the entrepreneurial bug and in 1981 started his own company S. Cohen and Associates (SC&A Inc). SC&A quickly became one of the nation’s fastest growing privately owned companies, using innovative flexible employment practices to minimize costs. Over 40 years later, SC&A is now a large employee-owned company that has become the go-to, DC-based consulting firm for evaluating the health impacts of radiation released to the environment and tackling complex challenges to build a safer and more sustainable world.?

SC&A still has quite a few team members who knew Sandy and worked with him in those early years. These are some of their thoughts as we reflect on our loss.?

CEO Greg Beronja?

I met Sandy in 2001 when I decided to find a company I could join where I could make a difference after having been at CH2M HILL for 16 years. I could not help but be impressed with Sandy and the company he had built 20 years prior to that. Sandy was a very caring and smart person who not only was a great engineer but also a great communicator which is rare. It was a very easy decision for me to join the firm after spending time talking to Sandy and the staff he had hired. Sandy was a great mentor to me and I feel lucky and privileged to have had the chance to work with him for 15+ years. I also feel fortunate to have spent time with his family through the years and will never forget the principles he lived by and those wonderful trips he and Gail captured through his video camera and her camera. I will miss him and will do the best I can in carrying on his name in his wonderful firm.?

Dr. John Mauro?

I worked closely with Sandy since 1988 until his retirement. I can't begin to tell you of the incredible memories I have, not only related to work but more so related to my staying at Sandy and Gail's home dozens of times. Sandy would mediate the heated political arguments I had with Gail, which often went into 3:00 am in the morning. I miss those days. You all probably realize the incredible culture and work ethic Sandy created and passed on to Greg. To this day, the amazing people we all work with reflects Sandy kind and generous legacy. May it go on forever.?

Vice President Patrick Kelly?

It is difficult to know what to say about Sandy, the guy who hired me 33 years ago. Here are a few random items. Sandy felt strongly that no work done by SC&A would support the development of nuclear weapons, quite an unusual position for someone with a doctorate in nuclear engineering and reactor physics. We debated whether to bid on tritium-related work at Savannah River in the early 1990s for this reason and he decided to pass. Sandy was the most principled, ethical person with whom I interacted. I said previously he was the "True North" of my personal moral compass regarding all things in the workplace. Sandy practiced "Active Listening", and he was especially interested in your perspective when you disagreed with him. He was fearless with respect to discussing any topic and was always interested in what you had to say and perfectly ready to ask personal questions of me and others. He did a lot to create a work environment where people genuinely communicated. Sandy was kind, he loved his family and always asked about mine. I can scarcely recall any time he spoke ill of another. Sandy had a great sense of humor and always wanted to hear if I had a new joke. Sandy would entertain almost any concept that you brought up, at least initially. If he thought it was bogus he would say so and move on. If he thought it had merit he would probe you further and be open to learning something new. even when it challenged his previous knowledge. He could be stubborn. He was a sweet man. The world would be a better place with more people like Sandy Cohen.?

Read Sandy Cohen’s complete obituary here.

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