John Williston Cook

John Williston Cook (April 20, 1844 – July 15, 1922) was an educator during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the United States, specifically in Illinois. His work in education, specifically in association with the Herbartianism movement, had a lasting impact on the field at the time.

Early life Cook was born on April 20, 1844, in Oneida County, New York. He moved to McLean County, Illinois, with his family in 1851. He attended Illinois State Normal University prior to his time as a faculty member, graduating in 1865. As president, Cook advocated for the construction of a gymnasium on campus, and in 1895 the Illinois legislature appropriated $40,000 for the construction of the gymnasium, later renamed John W. Cook Hall. Cook was president of the university when it broke its tradition of free tuition and instituted a fee of two dollars per term starting in December 1898. Cook resigned from ISNU in 1899. Cook encouraged ISNU graduates, both of the university and model school, to continue their education beyond the campus in order to strengthen their training as teachers, and heavily supported the faculty’s study of Herbartianism. Students such as Frank Morton McMurry, Charles Alexander McMurry and Charles DeGarmo took Cook's advice and studied abroad in Halle and Jena, Germany. He was essential to the organization of the school, the hiring of the first faculty members, and establishing the base curriculum for students.

Legacy There is a building named after Cook on the Illinois State University Campus, John W. Cook Hall, which is used predominantly by the School of Music. There is also a building on Northern Illinois University’s Campus, Williston Hall, named in his honor.