EPHRAIM— Bradley Cook, who took over as president of Snow College three years ago, has announced he is stepping down to become president of an American-style university in the Middle East. His last day at the college will be sometime in July.
In a letter to the college community last week, Cook said he will become president of the American University of Bahrain (AUBH), the first American-style, coeducational college in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Jen Cook (left) with Bradley Cook and Leslie Keisel, president of the Snow College Board of Trustees as Cook’s inauguration as Snow president in November, 2019. Last week, in a letter to the campus community, Cook announced he will leave Snow in July to become president of an American style university in the Middle East.
The private college has a partnership with California State University at Northridge designed to provide a pathway whereby students from the Middle East and North Africa can complete their college education in the United States if they choose.
“On behalf of the Board of Trustees and myself personally, I want to express how appreciative we are of President Cook,” said Leslie Keisel, chair of the Snow College Board of Trustees.
“He has provided dynamic leadership, led transformative change at the college and put the college on a strong financial footing for the future. He has dedicated himself to student success, innovation and expanding programmatic outreach for a broader range of learners.”
A press release from the college said the Utah State Board of Regents would immediately begin a national search for a new president. A search committee will be set up with representation from employees, students, the community and stakeholders, the press release said.
Cook’s initiatives as president included expanding online offerings and creating a career-technical education program that is enabling students to earn vocational certificates through a combination of work in industry and classroom instruction.
After Snow presented evidence that it had been historically underfunded, the last Utah Legislature gave the college the largest base-budget appropriation in its history. Meanwhile, the college’s endowment nearly doubled during Cook’s tenure.
The college also achieved multiple national and state recognitions including Snow College being designated by the Chronicle of Higher Education as best-in-class in the nation for student success and the college receiving 10 gold medals in the Utah Best of State Awards.
Cook has longstanding ties with the Middle East. He grew up in Saudi Arabia and as adult has had professional assignments in Egypt, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. He’s been a history professor specializing in Islamic and Middle East studies.
He was president of the Abu Dhabi Women’s College in the United Arab Emirates for eight years before returning to the United States as a vice president at what was then Utah Valley State College. He went from UVCS to Southern Utah University, where he was provost at the time of his selection as Snow president.
“I believe the work of AUBH will be crucial in developing graduates who think critically and find creative solutions to the challenges facing that region,” Cook wrote in his letter to the campus. “I am eager to help AUBH establish and scale the types of accomplishments we have achieved together here at Snow College, particularly strategies around student growth and success,” Cook stated in his letter to the campus.
Bahrain, with a population of 1.4 million, is located on a group of islands off the coast of Saudi Arabia. It is known for processing crude oil from nearby oil-producing nations. AUBH is located in Riffa, the second largest city in the country with a population of about 100,000. Both the king and prime minister of the country live in Riffa.
