Mary Curnock Cook (born 1958) is an independent educationalist who has previously served as Chief Executive of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service and as Director of Qualifications and Skills at the

Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA), previously known as the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), was a charity, and an executive non-departmental public body (NDPB) of the Department for Education. In Englan ...

. She is currently a non-executive director of the

Student Loans Company Student Loans Company Limited (SLC) is an executive non-departmental public body company in the United Kingdom that provides student loans. It is owned by the UK Government's Department for Education (85%), the Scottish Government (5%), the We ...

Life

Cook left school at sixteen and took a job as a secretary at International Biochemicals. She was promoted in time to the position of Director of International Sales and Marketing. She later became a

Sloan Fellow The Sloan Fellows program is a middle and senior-career master's degree program in general management and leadership offered at MIT, Stanford University, and London Business School (LBS). Initially supported by a grant from Alfred P. Sloan, fo ...

. Considered one of the most prestigious management training programmes in the world, it targets experienced leaders who have demonstrated success either within organisations or independently, as entrepreneurs. She was awarded a Master's degree from the

London Business School London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degree, Master's degrees in management and finance, Master of B ...

in 2001. In 2000, Cook was appointed an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) for assisting in training within the hospitality industry. Whilst CEO of UCAS, Cook joined the debate about

discrimination against men Discrimination against men based on gender has been observed in various areas, for example in the health and education sectors due to stereotypes that men are dangerous to women and children. In the legal system, men on average receive higher ...

in education. Commenting on a study by her own organisation, she was quoted as asking: "has the women’s movement now become so normalised that we cannot conceive of needing to take positive action to secure equal education outcomes for boys?” She stood down as the CEO of UCAS in 2017 and served as Honorary President of the

Association of University Administrators The Association of Higher Education Professionals (AHEP), formerly known as the Association of University Administrators (AUA), is the professional body for higher education administrators and managers in the United Kingdom and Republic of Irelan ...

until 2019.

Awards

Cook is an honorary Fellow of

Birkbeck College Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a public research university located in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. Established in 1823 as the London Mechanics' ...

and

Goldsmiths' College Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by ...

, independent member institutions of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. She has an honorary doctorate from the

University of Gloucestershire The University of Gloucestershire is a public university based in Gloucestershire, England. It is located over five campuses, three in Cheltenham and two in Gloucester. The university is the successor of a large number of merged, name-changed ...

. Cook was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the

2020 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to further and higher education.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Mary Curnock 1958 births Living people British chief executives Commanders of the Order of the British Empire London Business School Sloan Fellows UCAS