Nelson M. Cooke

Who is Nelson M. Cooke?

Nelson Magor Cooke was a leader in developing electronic schools of the United States Navy, the recipient of the Navy Commendation Medal and Medal for Humane Action, a post-war engineering entrepreneur, and an author of books on applied mathematics and basic electronics.

Cooke was born in Davis City, Iowa, son of Jacob and Lena Stoneburner Cooke. Orphaned at 12, he was raised by relatives. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy as an Apprentice Seaman on 22 November 1920, and progressively rose in rank through Petty Officer and Warrant Officer to Lieutenant Commander before retiring on 1 May 1951. After leaving the Navy, he formed and operated his own engineering firm. Cooke began professional writing in 1934, and continued with multiple-edition technical books throughout his life. He was married to Catherine Elizabeth Rice of Washington, DC, in 1926; they had one daughter, Isabelle E. Cooke, born in 1931. Nelson Magor Cooke died of leukemia at the Bethesda Naval Hospital in November 1965; his home at that time was in Great Falls, Virginia.