Professor Cook, who retired in 2012, joined the faculty in 1965 shortly after receiving the LL.M. degree from Yale University. He was named Williford Gragg Distinguished Professor in 1979 and served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs during 1991-1992. Professor Cook is the author or co-author of two multi-volume treatises, Constitutional Rights of the Accused and Civil Rights Actions and Casebooks in Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure. During the summers of 2000 and 2001 Professor Cook taught in England as a faculty member with the Cambridge Summer Abroad Program. He has received the L.R. Hesler Award for Excellence in Teaching and Service, the Carden Award for Outstanding Scholarship, the Harold C. Warner Outstanding Teacher Award (twice), the Forrest W. Lacey Award (twice), and the UT Alumni Outstanding Teacher Award. Professor Cook is a Trustee of the Tennessee Justice Foundation. Professor Cook was the 2004-2005 University of Tennessee Macebearer, the highest honor the University bestows upon faculty.

AB, 1961, University of Alabama

JD, 1964, University of Alabama

LLM, 1965, Yale University