Robert W. Cook was born Nov. 6, 1943, in Springfield. He graduated from Christian Brothers High School in Quincy, in 1961, and attended Quincy College. He received his B.A. degree from the University of Illinois, and his J.D. degree from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1967. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1967 to 1970, including a year in Vietnam. He practiced law in Quincy from 1970 to 1983, and was the Adams County Circuit Judge from 1983 to 1991. Judge Cook was appointed to the Appellate Court in 1991 and elected to the court in 1994. He retired from the Appellate Court in 2008, but was recalled by the Supreme Court, effective April 1, 2011. He and his wife, Fran, have three children, Brian, a stagehand in New York, Greg, an architect in St. Louis, and Julie Meehan, an interior designer in Louisville.
Appellate Judge