Bradley J. Cook, Office of the President (1990-1991)
Executive Vice President and Provost, Southern Utah University
Stanford University, BA International Relations (1990)
Stanford University, MA Education (1990)
University of Oxford, PhD Philosophy (1999)
When Brad Cook moved to Cairo for the Presidential Internship Program, it was not his first time living in the Middle East. As a teenager, his family lived in Saudi Arabia, where his parents were educators. Brad considers his teenage years to be a defining period in his life and from then on found himself gravitating towards all things Middle Eastern, Arabic and Islamic.
Brad attended Stanford University, where he majored in international relations, concentrating on the Middle East and Arabic. He was also a starting cornerback on the Cardinal football team. He earned First Team Academic All-Conference honors and was one of only a few defensive players to intercept UCLA quarterback and future NFL Hall-of-Famer Troy Aikman in 1988.
Upon graduating in 1990 with both his bachelor's and master's degrees, Brad was faced with a tough decision. His graduate studies cultivated an interest in a career in higher education administration, yet he didn’t want to abandon his academic interests in the Middle East. Fortunately for Brad, he discovered the Presidential Internship Program, which would allow him to gain professional experience working in an administrative office at AUC and living in Cairo, where he could gain a better understanding of the Arab world.
Brad and the other interns arrived in Cairo in August at about the same time that Iraq invaded Kuwait. Although there were tensions in the region, Brad recalls very little antagonism towards Americans. He looks back fondly on the year as a time he made great friends and was able to visit amazing places. He encourages all future interns to get out and experience Egypt. From Cairo’s proximity to some of the most fascinating places on earth to its good-humored and gracious people, Brad promises any intern will look back on the experience as one of the best times in his or her life.
As an intern in the Office of the President, Brad was assigned to assist with the Board of Trustees agenda and board relations. He also completed a feasibility study on establishing an Office of Institutional Research. Throughout the year, he accompanied the president to many key administrative meetings in which he gained insight into the operations of the university.
Brad attributes his year in Cairo to solidifying his plans to work in higher education administration. AUC introduced him to real issues facing universities and granted him the luxury of observing the heavy responsibility that comes with working in the field. He left AUC determined to stay connected to the Middle East and expose his future family to the depth of the region.
Following his internship, Brad spent two years in Kuwait, where he worked as the director of government relations for International Bechtel, Inc., before returning to Utah to begin his career in higher education. Brad returned to Cairo to carry out field research for his PhD in the 1996. In 2006, he returned to the Middle East again, this time with his family, when he was named president of Abu Dhabi Women’s College in the United Arab Emirates. In 2010, he publishedClassical Foundations of Islamic Educational Thought,and recently co-authored the article "Democracy and Islam: Promises and Perils for the Arab Spring Protests," which was selected as an Outstanding Paper Award Winner, Emerald Literati Networks Award for Excellence, 2013.
Currently, Brad is the executive vice president and provost at Southern Utah University. A native of Utah, Brad is right at home in Cedar City, where he lives with his wife and four children. When he is not at work, Brad enjoys coaching his children’s sports teams and reading about the Middle East, a place he fittingly considers his second home.