Mary Curnock Cook (born 1958) is an independent educationalist who has previously served as Chief Executive of the

Universities and Colleges Admissions Service The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS ) is a UK-based organisation whose main role is to operate the application process for British universities. It operates as an independent charity, funded by fees charged to applicants an ...

and as Director of Qualifications and Skills at the

Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA) was a charity, and an executive non-departmental public body (NDPB) of the Department for Education. In England and Northern Ireland, the QCDA maintained and developed the National Cu ...

. She is currently a non-executive director of the

Student Loans Company The Student Loans Company (SLC) is an executive non-departmental public body company in the United Kingdom that provides student loans. It is owned by the UK Government's Department for Education (85%), the Scottish Government (5%), the Welsh ...

Life

Cook left school at sixteen and took a job as a secretary at International Biochemicals. She was promoted in time to the position of Director of International Sales and Marketing. She later became a

Sloan Fellow The Sloan Fellows program is the world's first mid-career and senior career master's degree in general management and leadership. It was initially supported by a grant from Alfred P. Sloan, the late CEO of General Motors, to his alma mater, MIT ...

. Considered one of the most prestigious management training programmes in the world, it targets experienced leaders who have demonstrated success either within organisations or independently, as entrepreneurs. She was awarded a Master's degree from the

London Business School London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degrees in management and finance, MBA and PhD). Its motto is " ...

in 2001. In 2000, Cook was appointed an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) for assisting in training within the hospitality industry. Whilst CEO of UCAS, Cook joined the debate about discrimination against men in education. Commenting on a study by her own organisation, she was quoted as asking: "has the women’s movement now become so normalised that we cannot conceive of needing to take positive action to secure equal education outcomes for boys?” She stood down as the CEO of UCAS in 2017 and served as Honorary President of the

Association of University Administrators The Association of University Administrators (AUA) is the professional body for higher education administrators and managers in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The AUA was formed from a merger of the Association of Polytechnic Adminis ...

until 2019.

Awards

Cook is an honorary Fellow of

Birkbeck College Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a public university, public research university, located in Bloomsbury, London, England, and a constituent college, member institution of the federal Universit ...

and

Goldsmiths' College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

, independent member institutions of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. She has an honorary doctorate from the

University of Gloucestershire , mottoeng = In Spirit and Truth , established = , type = Public , endowment = £2.4 m (2015) , chancellor = Rennie Fritchie, Baroness Fritchie , vice_chancellor ...

. Cook was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the

2020 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to further and higher education.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Mary Curnock 1958 births Living people British chief executives Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Sloan Fellows UCAS