Meadville, Pa. – June 14, 2007 – Allegheny College president Richard J. Cook has been selected to join the steering committee of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). Cook was one of the first signatories of the commitment, a national challenge to colleges and universities to develop a comprehensive action plan to reduce their global-warming emissions.
The chief governing body of the ACUPCC, the steering committee is responsible for providing guidance, policy and direction for the program. Two hundred and seventy-six institutions of higher education have thus far signed the commitment.
Cook attended an ACUPCC leadership summit in Washington, D.C. on June 11 and 12. The summit saw the official launch of the climate commitment program with a signing ceremony and press conference.
Cook's leadership role in environmental issues on college campuses is a natural outgrowth of his own background. He began his academic life as a chemistry professor whose specialty was the intersection of science and public policy. Following work related to the Love Canal hazardous waste depository at Niagara Falls (NY), Cook held gubernatorial appointments to the Michigan Toxic Substance Control Commission and later to the Governor's Environmental Science Board.
His technical work has been widely published in professional journals and commissioned reports, and he has been appointed to numerous boards in the government and private sectors.
