Owen J. Cook

Owen J. Cook was president of the Church College of Hawaii from 1964 to 1971. The CCH became Brigham Young University Hawaii in 1974. Cook was a member of the Church’s Pacific Board of Education, which oversaw the establishment of the CCH in 1955. At the time of his appointment as president, he was the assistant superintendent of business for the Long Beach, California, Unified School District.

While president, Cook helped develop the work/study sponsorship program between CCH and the Polynesian Cultural Center that has helped thousands of students fund their education.

Cook was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was born in 1915 in Tremonton, Utah. He earned his doctorate degree in educational administration from the University of California, Berkeley. He died on June 25, 2005, in California. He and his wife, Ellen, were the parents of four children.