Robert C. Cook

Robert Carter Cook (April 9, 1898 – January 7, 1991) was an American eugenicist. He was editor of the Journal of Heredity for 40 years, a lecturer in medical genetics and biology at George Washington University, and director, then president, of the Population Reference Bureau in Washington, D.C. He was involved with the eugenics movement of the first half of the 20th century, and claimed authority on population policy and the effects of population growth on the environment.

Early life and education Cook was born in Washington, D.C., to botanist Orator Fuller Cook and Alice Carter Cook. He was primarily homeschooled, but attended Sidwell Friends School for a year when he was thirteen and attended George Washington University for another year when he was seventeen. Cook was a lecturer in medical genetics and biology at George Washington University, and director, then president (from 1959 to 1968), of the Population Reference Bureau in Washington, D.C. Cook was a member of the American Eugenics Society, the Population Association of America, and the Cosmos Club. In 1955, Cook received an award from the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation for his "outstanding contribution to wider understanding of the world population problem." Cook later married Annabelle Desmond. He died of pneumonia at the age of 92.