Tyler Cooper

Cooper was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in early 2026 and was treated over nine months. He died on the night of 21 October 2026, aged 55. The news was shared with Cooper Fitness Center members and announced by Baylor University, D Magazine and People Newspapers.

Baylor President Linda Livingstone and Board of Regents Chair Todd Patterson said Cooper had embodied the very best of Baylor as a scholar, an athlete, a physician and a servant leader. Cooper Aerobics called him a compassionate leader and physician who devoted his life to helping others live longer, healthier lives. Memorial service arrangements were to be announced.

Tyler Cooper was the son of Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper and his wife, Millie, and grew up in Dallas alongside his sister, Berkley. His father, a former US Air Force physician whose 1968 book Aerobics brought the word into everyday use, founded the Cooper Aerobics Center in 1970, eight days before Tyler was born, and Tyler spent his childhood on its campus in north Dallas.

He attended Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business and graduated with a bachelor of business administration in 1994. At Baylor he was a Southwest Conference champion in both track and field and cross country, served as team captain and was named All Conference.

After graduating, Cooper lived and worked abroad and then joined the business development side of Cooper Aerobics. He returned to study medicine, earning his MD from the University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio in 2003, and in 2005 he completed a master of public health in health care management at Harvard University. He did his internship at Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News, Virginia, and a residency in preventive medicine at the University of South Carolina, and joined the medical staff of Cooper Clinic in 2006.

In 2014 he succeeded his father in running the company, becoming president and chief executive of Cooper Aerobics and its seven businesses, which include Cooper Clinic, Cooper Fitness Center, Cooper Hotel, Cooper Complete nutritional supplements and Cooper Wellness Strategies. He oversaw renovations of the clinic, fitness centre and hotel and a 6,000 square foot fitness centre expansion with pickleball courts completed in 2024. He founded Cooper Wellness Strategies to bring the Cooper approach to employers and communities, set up Cooper Aerobics Greater China, and was a strong advocate of recognising cardiorespiratory fitness as a vital sign in medical practice. In 2007 he and his father co-wrote Start Strong, Finish Strong, a guide to preventive health for every stage of life.

Cooper was appointed to the Baylor University Board of Regents in 2021, where he was vice chair of the advancement committee and endowed a Regents Scholarship, and he also sat on the advisory board of Baylor's Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences. He was a trustee of The Cooper Institute, a past president of the American Heart Association in Dallas, a supporter of the North Texas Food Bank and a member of the Young Presidents' Organization.

Cooper was married to Angie Cooper, and they had three children, Clark, Lang and Kai. A committed outdoorsman, he climbed on all seven continents, and in 2021, at the age of 50, he completed his goal of standing on the summit of all 74 peaks higher than 14,000 feet in the contiguous United States, finishing on Mount Langley in California. He was known among colleagues for practising the exercise habits his family's company promoted.

Cooper is remembered for carrying his father's preventive medicine mission into a new generation, modernising the Cooper Aerobics campus and taking its model to employers and to China. Through Baylor, The Cooper Institute and his medical practice he championed the idea that fitness is a measurable part of health, and he leaves a Regents Scholarship that will support Baylor students.