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Steve Cook Selected Mississippi College Professor of the Year


Steve Cook

Steve Cook’s delightful mix of oils, pastels, charcoals and ink drawings captured the very essence of Fondren’s diverse neighborhoods in Mississippi’s capital city.

His wonderful paintings, drawings and landscapes at an exhibition at Mississippi College’s Gore Galleries was well-received by art patrons in August 2012.

Fast forward to 2015, and the Mississippi College art professor continues to merit applause at his alma mater in Clinton. In fact, Cook’s work inside and outside MC classrooms was good enough to earn the Jackson resident new honors as the university’s Distinguished Professor of the Year.

A native Mississippian, Cook is a 1973 MC graduate with many admirers in the art world and on the Clinton campus.

“Professor Cook is truly MC’s Renaissance man,” says Ron Howard, vice president for academic affairs.

Cook was recognized for his latest award at Mississippi College’s Graduate School commencement on May 8.

At Mississippi College, Cook teaches printmaking, painting and drawing and directs graduate work. He serves as art advisor to the “Arrowhead,” MC’s award-winning student publication for creative arts.

A true scholar of art history, Steve is also quite an accomplished musician on several instruments, including the bagpipes. Among his hobbies: he keeps a collection of antique cameras in his office in Aven Hall.

His creative works appear in a number of public and private collections, including the etching “Stone Circle,” in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Art Department Chairman Randy Miley remains a friend and colleague who lauds the devoted professor and his recent selection for this prestigious award.

“He loves Mississippi College and has devoted his career to teaching here and sharing his passion for art with our students,” Miley said.

As international coordinator in the Art Department’s graduate program, Cook spends many hours recruiting students. Once they enroll on the Clinton campus, he helps them every step of the way to make sure they adjust to life in the Magnolia State and complete their degrees.

Before joining the MC faculty in 1983, Cook taught at the University of Mississippi, the Mississippi School of the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson and at the Academic and Performing Arts Complex of the Jackson public schools.

Cook obtained his master of fine arts with a printmaking major at Ole Miss in 1975. He also traveled to England as an ITT International Fellow for a year of study in printmaking at the Royal College of Art in London. He operated his studio, New Leaf Graphics, in Clinton from 1976 to 1983. He’s lectured to numerous audiences, including the Visual Arts Academy of Romania.

Each year since 1978, Mississippi College has recognized a faculty member as Distinguished Professor of the Year. A committee appointed by the president of the Faculty Senate makes the choice after reviewing nominees from MC’s seven schools.

It's a wonderful honor to be one of the seven nominees for the Mississippi College award, Cook said when reached by phone Wednesday. “The greatest honor is the fact that it is given to you by your colleagues. It makes it a special occasion indeed.”

Representing the MC School of Christian Studies & the Arts, Cook is listed in “Who’s Who in American Art.”

Steve and his wife, Jeanne, are members of Northminster Baptist Church in Jackson.