Mathematician Kenneth L. Cooke, Known for Study of Epidemics, Dies at 82

September 26, 2007

Kenneth L. Cooke, who was known for work in mathematical biology, particularly the study of epidemics, has died at age 82 of a brain tumor.

A member of the MAA and professor at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., for 50 years, Cooke was the author of numerous textbooks, scores of papers, and a founder of the field called delay differential equations. In biology, his mathematical models helped predict biological phenomena and determine crucial parameters that could lead to epidemics.

"You wouldn't know how good he was," Pomona colleague Sandy Grabiner told the Los Angeles Times, "unless you knew how good he was, because he wasn't going to tell you."

Born in 1925 in Kansas City, Mo., Cooke showed little interest in mathematics in high school, but he was attracted to the field by the time he enrolled at Pomona College, in 1942. World War II, however, interrupted his schooling. After serving in the Navy as a radar and radio technician for two years, he returned to Pomona and graduated with a degree in mathematics in 1947. Cooke earned master's and doctorate degrees in mathematics at Stanford and taught at Washington State University for seven years, before joining the faculty of Pomona College.

Source: Pomona College, Sept. 10, 2007; Los Angeles Times, Sept. 8, 2007.