UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Donald M. Cook Jr., 85, of Indialantic, Florida, a former member of the Penn State Board of Trustees, died on Nov. 30, 2016.
Born in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Cook earned a bachelor of science degree from Penn State’s College of Health and Human Development in 1952. He returned to Penn State as a graduate assistant after serving in the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force National Guard, earning a master of education degree in 1960.
Cook began his career as director of career planning and placement at Penn State, a position he held for six years before embarking on a 27-year career at RCA Corp., ultimately retiring as president of RCA Service Co. Cook then served 10 years as president of SEMCOR Inc., a systems and engineering company in New Jersey.
Cook’s service to Penn State continued when he was elected president of the South Jersey Alumni Board. He then served as president of the Penn State Alumni Association from 1983 to 1985. Cook also served as director of the University’s Renaissance Scholarship Fund and chair of the Libraries Development Advisory Board. He was named an Alumni Fellow in 1985 and received the Distinguished Alumni Award, the University's highest honor presented to its alumni, in 1998.
Cook served on the Penn State Board of Trustees from 1985 to 1997, at which time he was honored with emeritus trustee status. Cook also served on the board of directors of the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, and he chaired fundraising campaigns for both Penn State Hershey and the University Libraries. A generous Penn State benefactor in his own right, Cook and his wife, Virginia, created the Donald M. and Virginia Miller Cook Endowment for Teaching Excellence in the College of Health and Human Development.
Cook is survived by his wife and three daughters, Debra Cook Billings (George), of Bear, Delaware; Kim Cook Pfleger (Carl), of Ridgefield, Connecticut; and Marjory Cook Dunham (Judson), of Indialantic, Florida, as well as six grandchildren and one brother, Robert Cook, of Bellville, New Jersey.