Inventory to the Percy Lavon Julian Family Papers

  Archives Homepage

Percy Lavon Julian Family Papers
Series III: Folder 18
Julian Memorial Lecture: Donald J. Cook
April 14, 1994

" I consider the years following the end of World War II into the mid- sixties the "glory-years" of my teaching career. The interaction in classroom, laboratory, convocation, and chapel between faculty and student did not have to be planned- it was spontaneous. The religious chapel was a part of our heritage and provided a common goal in the DePauw educational experience." d.j.c.

     Donald J. Cook, a native of Rock Island, Illinois, received the B.A. degree from Augustana College in 1937. After earning the Master's degree at the University of Illinois in 1938, he spent several years as an industrial chemist and also served for one year as an instructor of chemistry at his Alma Mater under his mentor, Dr. J.P. Magnusson. He was honored in 1967 with a Distinguished Alumni Award from Augustana College.

     In 1942 he began his doctoral studies at Indiana University under Prof. C. E. Kaslow and obtained the Ph. D. degree in 1944. After one year with the Lubrizol Corporation in Cleveland, Ohio Dr. Cook joined the staff of the Chemistry Department at DePauw University in July, 1945. He would stay at DePauw University for the rest of his career, as a full-time staff member for thirty-five years and a part-time instructor for another five years until 1985. Now, as Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, he continues as an active member of the University and Greencastle community.

     During these years of association with DePauw he has contributed widely to the overall academic program. He served as chairman of the Chemistry Department for 13 years and participated in many faculty studies which led to the improvement in the liberal arts requirements, the maintenance of a quality science program, and the establishment of the 4-1-4 (Winter Term) Schedule.

     In 1958 he initiated the National Science Foundation Summer Program for the Improvement of Teaching Science and Mathematics in the Elementary Schools. This program, which he directed, involved the attendance of over 1,000 teachers in twelve summer institutes, including two conducted in Munich, Germany, for the Department of Defense schools in Europe (1968 and 1969),  and one conducted in Lima, Peru, for the Department of State Schools in South America (1970). He also initiated the Summer Research Program for Chemistry Majors, supported by the National Science Foundation during the years 1963-1969 and 1971. The various proposals he submitted to the National Science Foundation during his years of tenure resulted in over $800,000 in grant monies for various summer institutes, science equipment, and chemistry research programs.

    He has served the American Chemical Society as a Visiting Associate for its Committee on Professional Training, and from 1959 through 1964 as a member and chairman of the Visiting Scientist Committee for its Division of Chemical Education. During these years he made over 30 visits to liberal arts colleges as a Visiting Scientist. In 1961-1962 he was a member of the staff of the National Science Foundation in Washington D.C., as an Associate Program Director in the Course Content Improvement Section.

     Among his other professional activities was a summer research appointment at the National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in 1951; a year of postdoctoral research as a Naval Research Fellow at Purdue University in 1952-1953; and a Visiting Professorship at Indiana University in the summer of 1963. A member and Fellow of the Indiana Academy of Science since 1945, he served as President of the Academy for 1976. During these years he taught courses for students of general chemistry, organic chemistry, and separate chemistry courses for nurses, teachers, and liberal arts majors. His experience in conducting research in organic chemistry with senior majors and graduate students resulted in a number or articles in chemical journals. In 1974 he authored a textbook, Elements of Chemistry, published by D. Vand Nostrand Company.

     Dr. Cook and Marion Louise McCauley were married in 1939. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Together they have served the great cause of higher education. The parents of two daughters, Christine and Hope, they reside in a 128-year-old heritage house in Greencastle. Students have visited in it through long years; and it has also been honored by the presence of many who have walked the paths of the world with dignity and high achievement. Dr. Percy Julian, his wife Dr. Anna Julian, his children Faith and Percy Jr., and granddaughter Kathy Julian, have been entertained in it; also Dr. Julian's brother James and his wife Betty, and his sisters Mattie Brown, Irma Raybon, and Elizabeth White, together with their husbands.

     In 1976 Dr. Cook initiated the Percy L. Julian Memorial Lecture Series and has served as director of it for the past 18 years. This Series has played an important role in the national recognition of this famous DePauw scholar and chemist.

     Dr. Cook and his wife are the founders and serve as officers of The Heritage Preservation Society of Putnam County, Indiana. Their outreach has extended far into their community and continues today.