Distinguished Alumnus and Donor Joseph C. Cook Jr.
Enterprising engineer, successful entrepreneur, dedicated philanthropist, devoted husband and father...all of the above descriptions fit Joseph C. Cook Jr., a committed UT College of Engineering alumnus and the current Chairman of the COE Board of Advisors.
Cook graduated from UT in 1965 with a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering. As the first member of his family to either graduate from high school or attend a university, the Chattanooga native worked his way through college as a co-op student and also received support from an alumni scholarship.
"I could not have attended UT without that scholarship," Cook said. "It meant that somebody cared enough for me, and others like me, to have a chance to go to school. I remember thinking that the beneficiary of that generosity should feel a duty to repay that and more so that there will always be funds available for people who are deserving but cannot afford the cost."
After graduating with honors, including selection as a UT Torchbearer, Cook accepted a position with Eli Lilly and Company, a pharmaceutical company located in Indianapolis. During his 28 years with Lilly, Cook served in a number of senior positions, including head of engineering, vice president of production and group vice president of global operations.
In 1993, Cook retired from Lilly and began a second career as a strategy consultant to the biotechnology industry.
In March of 1998, Amylin Pharmaceuticals asked Cook to assume the role of chairman and chief executive for the small publicly traded biotech company. Although he and his wife, Judy, had settled in Black Mountain, North Carolina, Cook accepted and began commuting between North Carolina and San Diego. He viewed his involvement with the company as strictly a one or two-year stint. However, unexpected results from two clinical trials on SYMLIN, an experimental diabetes drug, sent Amylin into a tailspin.
"Our stock plummeted, and we had only 90 days of cash left," Cook explained. "We had to downsize by 80% to only 37 employees in order to keep our research and development going. But we did manage to hold career fairs and got almost all of our displaced employees jobs before their severance pay ended."
In the end, Cook, other members of the Amylin board and a significant individual outside investor wrote personal checks to keep the company going. Cook's one year commitment turned out to be a five-plus year cross-country commute.
In late 1999, the results of two new clinical trials were positive, and Cook began re-building Amylin. During the initial phase, 50% of the hires were former employees. Throughout the turmoil Amylin had continued to work quietly on Byetta, a second drug for diabetes. In 2002, Cook helped engineer a collaboration in 2002 with Lilly covering the development and commercialization of Byetta. In 2005, both drugs were approved by the Food and Drug Administration and are currently on the market.
"I'm amazed at the progress that has been made," Cook said. "We went from a nadir of 37 employees to our current level of 1,200; we have two products on the market that are truly helping people with diabetes live better lives; and in February of this year, we held a ribbon-cutting for Amylin's first biotechnology manufacturing operation, a $150 million facility located near Cincinnati. It's a rare but very satisfying turnaround."
Cook left the CEO post of Amylin in 2003 and continues to serve Amylin as the Chairman of the Board of Directors. "I 'retired' again," he joked–and joined his son and son-in-law to form Mountain Group Capital, a company that focuses on acquiring controlling interests in manufacturing and value added distribution companies primarily located in the southeast.
Cook and his wife have settled in Nashville and they divide their time between the state capitol and their home in North Carolina. They have two grown children and five grandchildren, all of whom live nearby.
"It is a blessing to be able to return to your home state, work with your family and be close to your grandchildren" Cook added. In addition to his professional activities, Cook has also served in significant roles with several nonprofit organizations.
Cook received the COE's prestigious Nathan W. Dougherty Award in 1999, and he has been a member of the college's Board of Advisors since 1987, assuming the role of chair in 2005.
"The most dramatic transformation that I've seen in the college is in changing from a department focus to an integrated curriculum," Cook commented. "The engineering college has responded well to changes in the cultural and business environment."
Cook is very enthusiastic about the Tennessee HOPE Scholarship, implemented in 2002.
"We should all commit to making the University of Tennessee a key component of the fabric that supports the economic growth of Tennessee. By developing an outstanding educational institution at UT-Knoxville, we contribute to providing future working professionals and entrepreneurs, and we are creating a win-win situation," Cook stated.
In 1997, the Cooks established the Judith E. and Joseph C. Cook Jr. Engineering Scholarship Endowment at the UT College of Engineering to help deserving students."
"We can no longer assume that the government taxing agencies will pick up the full burden of operating our institutions of higher learning," Cook stressed. "I believe that we must be good stewards of our resources, and higher education is one important area where we must 'reinvest' these resources. Those of us who are in a position to support education must remember that we have a responsibility to make sure that the generations that follow us have the same opportunities that we enjoyed. The scholarship is my way to provide for others, just as someone did for me over 40 years ago."