The legacy of Kenneth Cook, whose career as an engineering professor at Lawrence Tech spanned seven decades, will live on.
Sabah Abro, who succeeded Cook as chair of the Department of Engineering Technology, said a sizeable gift from Cook’s estate will be used in part to provide cash for the annual student awards in the department, as well as for improvements to the department’s offices and other facilities.
“His legacy will live on,” Abro said. “His name will never be forgotten.”
Cook joined the LTU faculty as an adjunct professor shortly after graduating from LTU in 1964 with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering. But it would be another 40 years before Cook joined LTU faculty full-time, becoming chair of the Department of Engineering Technology, after an engineering career that took him all over the world.
Cook was a beloved teacher known for entertaining classroom presentations that made use of his professional-level skills as a magician. Said Abro: “He was magical in everything.”
When Cook took over LTU’s engineering technology department, it was not accredited by ABET, the national accrediting agency for engineering programs. Abro said the “inflection point” for the department came in 2010 when he, Cook and professor Jerry Cuper started working on the department’s curriculum, expanding and upgrading its programs to be ABET accreditation- ready degrees. Today, the department offers a Bachelor of Science in Audio Engineering Technology, a Bachelor of Science in Construction Engineering Technology and Management, and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering Technology, as well as a Master of Science in Engineering Quality.
“We created a model for the department that has a solid foundation general education, math, and science for every program in our department, plus the three cores of engineering, management, and quality,” Abro said. “We believe engineers need management skills to lead teams and grow in their careers. And quality was added, uniquely in our department, so our graduates are certified as Six Sigma black belts, one of just a few programs in the nation.”
Abro said the department plans to continue the unique management style Cook followed, which Abro characterized as being a family. “We deal with each other and with students just like a family, meaning you go out of your way to help them, nurture them–and you yell at them sometimes,” Abro said with a laugh.
Abro is now preparing to begin the search for a full-time faculty to take over Cook’s classes, which he admitted will be a difficult process, “because we need somebody who has an intensive industrial background, which he had–when he started here as chair of the department, he had almost 40 years of experience in industry.”
Not to mention a magic touch, both inside and outside the classroom.
Going forward, Abro said, “we are going to create annual awards in his name for our students,” as well as include Cook in the College of Engineering Hall of Fame.
