Nelson M. Cooke
| Nelson Magor Cooke | |
|---|---|
| Born |
November 28, 1903 Davis City, Iowa |
| Died | November 30, 1965 (aged 62) Bethesda, Maryland |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Navy
|
| Years of service | 1920–1951 |
| Rank |
 Lieutenant commander
|
| Awards | |
| Other work | Entrepreneur, author |
Nelson Magor Cooke (28 November 1903 – 30 November 1965) 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.
As a youth, Cooke’s primary interest was in the emerging radio technology. Without funds for studying engineering at a university, he turned to the Navy for obtaining a technical education and entered military service at age 16. Through on-the-job training and independent study (called “striking for rate”), he attained the Petty Officer rating of Electrician's Mate in minimum time. (During the 1920s and 1930s, technicians with this rating were responsible for radio maintenance.)
After passing a rigorous admission examination, in 1928 Cooke attended the six-month Radio Materiel School (RMS) at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Bellevue, District of Columbia. His performance at the RMS was such that on 16 October 1928, he received a Warrant Officer appointment as a Radio Electrician, one of the youngest persons ever to receive such appointment. His first assignment after receiving this appointment was on a seaplane tender, the USS Wright (AV-1), where he served for six years.
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