Carlton Lee Cooke (born July 12, 1944) is an American politician and businessman. He served as mayor of

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

from 1988 to 1991, being described by ''

The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...

'' as a "business-booster".

Education and career

After initially attending the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

, Cooke received a BA from

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research acti ...

in 1966. Cooke served as an Air Force

intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a rank, used in the same way ...

during the Vietnam War and received the Bronze Star Medal. He is a former employee of the

Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American technology company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that designs and manufactures semiconductors and various integrated circuits, which it sells to electronics designers and manufacturers globa ...

from 1972 to 1983. Cooke served on Austin City Council for two terms from 1977 until 1981 leading the modern plan which revitalized downtown. Describing himself as a "conservative businessman", Cooke’s highlights included a new convention center, expansion by Motorola (NXP), IBM and AMD, the approval of 44 miles of

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

, refocus location of the airport to the closing Bergstrom AFB site and creation of the Austin Technology Incubator during his tenure as mayor. He was President/CEO of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce from 1983 to 1987. During his tenure, a new strategy for a more diverse economy with emphasis on technology research, software development, music-film-conventions in addition to government, education and services was adopted.

References

1944 births Living people People from Marion, Alabama Mayors of Austin, Texas Louisiana Tech University alumni {{Austin-stub