Executive Vice President and Provost

Corey Cook, PhD, Executive Vice President and Provost

Previously serving as the Vice Provost for Academic Programs and Planning, and more recently as the Interim Provost, Cook has helped lead the college's efforts to navigate successfully through the pandemic while continuing to make progress on key initiatives around strategic planning, institutional effectiveness, sustainability, and academic alignment, including collaboration with the faculty and academic leaders on the Omnibus Task Force and its goals around transitioning credit hours, workload policies, core curriculum revision, and prioritization and innovation for academic programs. 

Cook comes to Saint Mary’s from Boise State University, where he was the founding dean of the School of Public Service and a professor of Political Science. Founded in 2015—when Cook joined the institution—the school’s mission is to educate students to become effective and principled public service leaders, promote meaningful community engagement and civil discourse, and serve as an objective and unbiased resource for citizens and decision makers.

Prior to Boise State, Cook served at the University of San Francisco for nine years as an associate professor of Politics and notably led USF’s community engagement efforts as the director of the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good. As the center’s director, he developed and administered two graduate programs, a master's of public affairs and master's of arts in urban affairs; administered rewarding experiential programs in government service, including a summer internship program in Sacramento and semester-long internship in Washington, D.C.; and expanded service learning.

Cook’s administrative experience also includes organizational review and analysis of the educational effectiveness of universities and colleges, having served in leadership roles on institutional accreditation committees for both Boise State and the University of San Francisco.

Cook’s scholarship includes a focus on American politics and public policy. He is the author of several book chapters on issues such as political polarization, urban politics, identity politics, and community and civic engagement; his academic articles have been published in a variety of journals. Cook earned both his doctorate and master's of arts degree in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Provost's Office Staff Members