Trine University faculty member John Cook discusses education, work and a taste for brewing

John Cook, a Trine University faculty member, described his path from factory and retail jobs to a career in higher education and offered advice to middle-school students during a podcast interview at Henry Park in Angola.

The interview on Success Stories in Steuben County — hosted by Hope Martha and Ruby — opened with the hosts thanking the nonprofit FIST for a grant that paid for podcast microphones. "We would like to thank FIST for providing us with a grant for microphones," the hosts said at the start of the episode.

Cook, who said he has lived in Angola "for about 10 years," traced his interest in science to strong middle- and high-school teachers and to early summer and factory work. "My first job that I earned money for was detasseling corn," he said, describing the physically demanding seasonal work he held at about age 14. He later worked retail, then on factory assembly lines, and took an internship at a local manufacturing firm in Muscatine, Iowa, where he said he learned "how a lot of stuff gets made." Those experiences, he said, helped him decide to pursue engineering and later advanced study.

Cook described his academic path as including undergraduate study at Valparaiso and graduate study at Stanford University, where he earned a master's degree and a Ph.D. "I went to the West Coast to Stanford University and I got a Masters and a PhD there," he said. He said his early research included a co-op at a national high-energy physics laboratory.

At Trine, Cook said his primary focus is teaching. "I just got done with teaching four classes this semester to college students," he said, and noted he had entered final grades the morning of the interview. He described lab and equipment work as rewarding: "This week, I'll be working on building a laser," he said, noting the assembly and cooling requirements for the device.

Asked what attributes helped him succeed, Cook pointed to persistence and curiosity: "Willingness to practice is an important thing... A strong sense of curiosity also helps," he said. He advised young listeners to practice skills, "talk to people, read books," and to use reliable online resources: "You can learn a lot from YouTube videos."

The conversation touched on personal details in a conversational tone. Cook said he has three sons, the youngest is 17, and that his wife works at a middle school. He also mentioned hobbies including fishing and home brewing: "I make beer," he said.

The episode ran about 16 minutes and featured back-and-forth questions from the two hosts. No formal actions or decisions resulted from the recording; it was recorded as a community podcast episode.

The interview included local references to Angola and Henry Park, Cook’s undergraduate study at Valparaiso, his upbringing in Muscatine, Iowa, and graduate study at Stanford. The hosts and Cook identified community resources and experiences that influenced his career, and Cook emphasized teaching and student progress as his favorite parts of the job: "When a student struggles and works on a hard concept... seeing them be successful makes me feel really good," he said.

The hosts closed the episode with thanks and goodbyes; the recording ended with the host and Cook exchanging farewell remarks.