Samuel DuBois Cook

Samuel DuBois Cook (November 21, 1928 – May 29, 2017) was a political scientist, professor, author, administrator, human rights activist, and civil servant. He is best known for being the first African-American faculty member at Duke University, in 1966, as well as for serving as president of Dillard University from 1975 to 1997. In addition, Cook was appointed to the National Council on the Humanities by President Jimmy Carter and to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council by President Bill Clinton. Cook also served as the first black president of the Southern Political Science Association.

Education Cook attended Morehouse College, where he received an A.B. degree. Cook spent 22 years as president of Dillard University in New Orleans, beginning in 1975. Cook also played a prominent role in promoting a shift in relations between African Americans and Jewish Americans with his establishment of the Center for Black-Jewish Relations while serving as president of Dillard University. He was a friend and classmate of fellow civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. Cook was president of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. He held a chair position of the Presidents of the United Negro College Fund.