William Wilson Cook (1858 – 1930) was an American attorney and legal scholar. He wrote extensively on matters of corporate law, including the seminal text, ''Cook on Corporations''. Cook was also an early, major benefactor of the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, particularly the
University of Michigan Law School
The University of Michigan Law School (Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparative Law (MCL ...
.
Biography
Cook was born in
Hillsdale, Michigan
Hillsdale is the largest city and county seat of Hillsdale County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 8,036 at the 2020 census.
The city is the home of Hillsdale College, a private liberal arts college noted for its academics ...
, to John Potter Cook, a founder of Hillsdale, and his wife Martha.
[Brief Biography](_blank)
by Margaret A. Leary, Director and Librarian, University of Michigan Law Library Cook attended the University of Michigan from 1876 to 1882, earning his undergraduate (1880) and law (1882) degrees from that institution.
He practiced law for many years in Manhattan, primarily for the
Mackay Mackay may refer to:
*Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives
Mackay may also refer to:
Places Australia
* Mackay Region, a local government area
** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region
*** Mackay Airpor ...
telegraph and cable companies, and amassed a substantial fortune. In 1915, Cook constructed the
Martha Cook Building women's dormitory on the Michigan campus and donated it to the university. In 1922, Cook announced his intention to construct a lawyers club and dormitory at University of Michigan. Cook hired the architectural firm of
York and Sawyer
York and Sawyer was an American architectural firm active between 1898 and 1949. The firms' work is exemplary of Beaux-Arts architecture as it was practiced in the United States. The partners Edward York (July 23, 1863– December 30, 1928) and ...
to design the Lawyers Club, the first of several buildings built in the
English Gothic style, all paid for and constructed by Cook, which would come to comprise the
Law Quadrangle at the University of Michigan.
When the Lawyers Club was completed, the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' described it as "one of the finest buildings of its kind on any campus in the world."
Cook left his entire estate to the Michigan law school. The estate, valued at $20 million in 1930, would have been equivalent to about $260 million in 2006 dollars.
Legacy
The law library constructed by Cook was named the William W. Cook Legal Research Library. In addition, several law professors at law schools abroad hold the position of William W. Cook Global Law Professor at Michigan, visiting the law school regularly and teaching courses.
Wm. W. Cook Global Law professors, ''University of Michigan Law School''
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References
Further reading
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, William W.
1858 births
1930 deaths
University of Michigan Law School alumni
People from Hillsdale, Michigan
New York (state) lawyers
American legal scholars
American Book Award winners