Charles Cook (academic)

Charles Henry Herbert Cook (30 September 1843 – 21 May 1910) was an English-born, Australian-raised, New Zealand-based mathematician. He was born in Kentish Town, Middlesex, England, on 30 September 1843, but educated in Melbourne, Australia, where he got a BA and an LLB from University of Melbourne. He then went to St John's College, Cambridge, initially to train for the English Bar but became interested in mathematics.

Studio headshot of Charles Henry Herbert Cook taken from "The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District]" 1903.

In 1874, a year before being due to be called to the bar, Cook was appointed founding head of mathematics at Canterbury College, University of New Zealand (now Canterbury University).^[1] He joined co-founders John Macmillan Brown and Alexander Bickerton in Christchurch, New Zealand, and initially focused on Latin and mathematics. He was also involved in promoting the establishment of the University's engineering school.^[2] He is remembered primarily for his teaching; Nobel Prize–winning physicist Ernest Rutherford cited him as an influence:^[3][4]

Cook was evidently a sound mathematician and an excellent teacher along orthodox lines, with no marked tendency to stray from those lines.^[5]

He was involved in secondary education, acting as an examiner for the New Zealand Department of Education and holding a fellowship at the Anglican Christ's College, Christchurch from 1891 to 1908.^[1]

Cook was a member of the Royal Commission on Higher Education 1878–1800^[3][6] and a member of the senate of the University of New Zealand.^[1]

In 1903, Cook appeared in the vanity press The Cyclopedia of New Zealand, with a photo and short article.^[1] He died in Marton, New Zealand, on 21 May 1910.^[3]

Cook Memorial Prize

After his death in 1910 a memorial prize was established, with Ernest Rutherford among the contributors.^[7][8]

Year	Recipient
1912?	Henry S. Richards[9]
1934	T. E. Easterfield[10]
1940	I. E. Robertson[11]
1941?	Alister McLellan[12]
1947	David Spence[13]
1993	Alistair O'Malley[14]
1994	Michael Burns[14]
1995	Chris Tuffley[14]
1996	Jon Cherrie and Kahn Mason[14]
1997	Brian Bull[14]
1998	James McGowan[14][15]
1999	Clare McLennan Nigel Sinclair[14]
2000	Hannah Sutherland[14]
2001	Daniel Myall[14]
2002	Philip Daniel[14]
2003	Ronald Begg[14]
2005	Maarten Jordens[14]
2006	James Roscoe[14]
2007	Timothy Candy[14]
2008	Ashley Lightfoot[14]
2009	Thomas Steinke[14][16]
2010	Nicholas Brettell and James Hadfield[14]
2011	Thomas Li[14]
2012	Simon Todd[14]
2013	Jamie de Jong, Andreas Kempe and Joshua Smith[14]
2014	Carolyn Irons