Juris Doctorate
California Western School of Law
Bachelor of Arts
English and Education
Montclair State University
Mediator Certification
Maryland Institute for Continuing Professional Education for Lawyers
Karen Cook began her professional career as a high school English teacher before going to law school. After working in private law practice, the Anne Arundel County Attorney’s Office and the Anne Arundel County Council, she was drawn back to education. She started at AACC as a professor in the Legal Studies Institute in 1999 and then transitioned to administration, first as director of the Legal Studies Institute and then as dean of the School of Business and Law, a role she has held since July 2015.
In 2013 she was selected by the then-county executive to be the chief administrative officer for Anne Arundel County, where she managed the day-to-day activities of county government and was the first woman to hold that position. Currently, she is chair of the board of directors of the BWI Business Partnership Inc., the first woman to hold that position in the organization’s 35-year history. Cook also sits on the board of directors of the Baltimore Washington Medical Center. She is a past president of the Anne Arundel Bar Association and currently sits on its board of trustees.
Cook is grateful to work with an immensely talented and dedicated team of faculty and staff in the School of Business and Law and to have the opportunity to help students and employees achieve their full potential, academically, personally and professionally. Her motto has always been, “You CAN do anything you put your mind to.”
