Vernon Cook

Cook graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Ohio State University in 1951. He also attended Miami University and completed the classwork required for a doctorate, but never his dissertation.

He was posthumously awarded an honorary Ph.D. from the University of Akron in 1988.

Cook was an assistant professor of political science at Ohio Wesleyan University and Case Western Reserve University before becoming an associate professor at the University of Akron in 1965. He continued in that position after being elected to public office, until his death in 1987.

Cook was first elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1972. In 1979, he was made Assistant Majority Floor Leader. He served on the Finance and Appropriations committee, the Ethics and Standards committee, the Rules committee and was chair of the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review.^[4]

In 1987, Cook was made the first director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron. Although Cook had been Ray C. Bliss's choice,^[5] Cook's appointment was controversial.^[6]

Despite some partisan wrangling, Cook was eventually given the post.^[7]

An internship named for Cook provides students with the practical experience in politics.