Suzan Johnson Cook
| Suzan Cook | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom | |
|
In office April 2011 – October 2013 |
|
| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | John Hanford |
| Succeeded by | David Saperstein |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 28, 1957 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater |
Emerson College Columbia University Union Theological Seminary |
Suzan Denise Johnson Cook (born January 28, 1957) is a presidential advisor, pastor, theologian, author, activist, and academic who served as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom from April 2011 to October 2013. She has had a wide-ranging career in a number of fields, serving as a policy advisor to President Bill Clinton and later to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros, a dean and professor of communications at Harvard University, a professor of theology at New York Theological Seminary, a pastor at a number of churches, a television producer, a sought-after speaker and the author of nearly a dozen books, before being named Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom by President Barack Obama. She was also the first female senior pastor in the 200-year history of the American Baptist Churches USA and a close friend of Coretta Scott King.
Johnson Cook was raised in Bronx, New York the younger of two children. Her father was one of the first black trolley drivers in New York City before opening a security agency and her mother was a public school teacher in Harlem. She and her elder brother, who went on to attend Dartmouth College, skipped grades during their school years. Johnson attended Riverdale Country Day School. Johnson graduated high school at sixteen, attending Fisk University before transferring to Emerson College, graduating in 1976 with a degree in speech. She then earned a master's degree in educational technology from Columbia University. She also received early experience in politics, helping her brother win a seat in the New York State Assembly.
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