 Born on October 10, 1911 in Garden City, Utah to Alonzo Laker Cook and Maude Osmond, he received a Master of Arts from the University of Utah in 1934 and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Yale University in 1937.He served as President of IRECO Chemicals (later acquired by Dyno Nobel).He also served as a Professor of Metallurgy and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah.