Student: Cooper Hilbert

Published Dec 12, 2025 by

• Alondra Martinez

Filed under:

• Business
• Health and Human Performance
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• Students
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• Sustainability

East Carolina University senior Cooper Hilbert has spent his college career exploring how cities work and how they can work better. What began as simple curiosity grew into a passion for urban planning, sustainability and service. Through coursework, campus involvement, research and study abroad, Hilbert has shaped a path rooted in community impact.

Finding His Path

When Hilbert was introduced to the community and regional planning and economics programs, he knew he had found his calling. During an open house event, Hilbert met Dr. Lester Zeager, a professor in the economics department, and was introduced to the field.

"I didn't know anything about what economics was outside of the general things people talk about. But at open house, Dr. Zeager had this interesting presentation on how economics could be used to solve problems with development in the world and how we could use it to address equity and similar issues in today's business landscape. I thought that was really fascinating and I didn't ever consider that as a possibility," Hilbert said.

When he arrived on campus for his freshman year, Hilbert was majoring in economics and business but was unsure if business was the right fit.

"The business program I started out originally in because I didn't know what I wanted to do. At that point I thought I was going to own my own business, so I figured that would make sense," he said.

In high school, Hilbert spent time in downtown Wilmington, where he began to notice how people interacted with the city around them.

"I would be downtown on Tuesday in the early afternoon, and there are all these people around. Everyone's out and about. They're going to get food, coffee, study and more. I thought that it was awesome. I wondered how people find a place like this and how do you get something like this. I got really interested in urban planning without ever actually realizing that it was a real area of study," he said.

It was not until he spoke with a friend at ECU who was majoring in community and regional planning that he learned the university offered a program focused on his growing interests.

"When I found out about the program, I was blown away. I couldn't believe that I could get a job in this field that I just saw as a weird side thing that I was interested in. I thought that was awesome," Hilbert said.

Hilbert remained an economics major and replaced business with community and regional planning, a decision that helped him thrive academically.

Gaining Professional Experience

One of Hilbert's favorite courses was Transportation Planning with Dr. Kaylyn Levine.

"The course teaches students about public transportation, light rail and the subway. If you're a transit nerd, then it's the coolest class you can take. I took that class and we actually completed an awesome class project that was focused around Pitt County and Beaufort County and micro transit services," Hilbert said.

He later presented the project at a state conference for the American Planning Association, an experience that helped him secure a summer internship as a planning analyst at Kimley Horn and Associates Inc., one of the nation's premier engineering, planning and design consultants.

"One of the members of the team that was interviewing me had sat in on my presentation at the conference and remembered me. One thing led to another and that ended up creating an opportunity for me outside of the program," he said.

Getting Involved at ECU

Hilbert has immersed himself in campus life as a member of the Access Scholars, Global Fellows, Student Planners' Action Network and sustainability organizations such as ReLeaf and ECU Sustainabilibees.

Within the Student Planners' Action Network, a club for community planning majors, he served as president for two years. During that time, he helped rebuild the organization and attended two national conferences, one in Minneapolis and another in Denver.

Some members had never left North Carolina, and the trips became a meaningful learning experience.

"You get to go visit this city that is so far away and has such a different way of doing things. There's a lot of benefit in that, especially for planners. You can see what other cities are doing and how they've navigated some of their challenges. Seeing how that works and then taking that and bringing it back to North Carolina, a lot of our graduates stay within North Carolina, so that payoff ends up being in our region," Hilbert said.

As a Global Fellow, Hilbert works with the Office of Global Affairs as an international engagement programming and communications assistant. He supports events and initiatives for international students on campus.

"Being able to bring in these students from all across the world and have them study here is one of the biggest prides of ECU. Providing those opportunities for them to have a good experience while they're here, whether it's setting up coffee hours or a Thanksgiving potluck. It provides this space where you get to mix and meet a lot of different people," he said.

Learning Abroad

Hilbert has studied abroad twice in South Korea through the community and regional planning program, focusing on sustainable urbanism with Dr. Misun Hur.

On his first trip, he explored the country's architecture, community systems and urban environment.

"The experience was amazing. They have some of the most advanced solutions to traffic and housing and different issues like that anywhere in the world. There's so much to learn about," Hilbert said.

This summer, Hur invited him to return to South Korea, this time as a teaching assistant.

"I think there's even more that can be learned from helping students once you've studied abroad. Having someone there that's done it before that can guide you through that process really helped a lot of those students. It taught me a lot about how to be a better leader," he said.

One of his favorite memories from the trip was hiking Inwangsan Mountain.

"I told Dr. Hur the first time I really wanted to go hiking. I'm a very outdoorsy person so I love the mountains. I saw South Korea and I saw that there were mountains everywhere. We didn't get to do it the first time, and so she worked really hard to build it into the schedule the second time," he said.

"It was one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had. You're on top of a mountain, you're surrounded by the city on all sides, so you get to see every part of Seoul. It was just beautiful and it was a really cool experience. That was by far one of the coolest experiences I think I've had on either of my study abroad trips."

Serving the Community

Service has remained a central part of Hilbert's journey, whether through sustainability initiatives or research on broadband access in rural areas of eastern North Carolina.

During his junior year, he worked with HarvestBeam Inc., a broadband internet provider based in Grifton, North Carolina, on a USDA funded grant program aimed at understanding market conditions and internet access in rural communities.

"What service really means to me is it's about giving back. During my time at ECU, any great accomplishments and successes that I've had here have been the result of other people giving back," Hilbert said.

"That's what inspired me to get into planning and wanting to become more of a public servant that is working to help address some of the issues that we have in our city. Being someone that works for the betterment of communities and works towards creating better neighborhoods, better towns and better cities," he said. "It really taught me how important it was for people to continue giving back and to not forget about where you came from or who helped you once you make it."

Looking Ahead

Hilbert will graduate this month and plans to return to Kimley Horn, where he will work full time as a market planning analyst in the Charlotte office.

"I'm excited to get that starting point in my career. As far as what I want to do down the line, as long as it is in the realm of helping focus development in our cities to be more sustainable and benefit the most people that it can, that's really what I'm looking for in my career. I think I'll have a great opportunity to do that with Kimley Horn," he said.

Words of Advice

Reflecting on his time at ECU, some of Hilbert's favorite memories come from the connections he made through conferences and campus involvement.

"It gave me the opportunity to learn more about and interact with the students in our program outside of the classroom. Getting to meet people that I otherwise never really would have. That's really cool. I hope to continue doing that even after college," he said.

Hilbert encourages students to make the most of their college experience.

"Getting involved on campus helped me find my major and opened up opportunities I never would've had otherwise. It's easy to blend into the background, especially in big programs, but stepping out of your comfort zone, even as an introvert, can completely change your college experience."

Student: Cooper Hilbert

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Staff: Quinten Robinson

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Staff: Dr. Diane Majewski