Quentin L. Cook

{{Infobox Latter Day Saint biography

| name = Quentin L. Cook

| image = Quentin L. Cook 01.jpg

| birth_name = Quentin LaMar Cook

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1940|09|08}}

| birth_place = Logan, Utah, United States

| education = Utah State University (B.S.)
Stanford University (J.D.)

| death_date =

| deathplace =

| spouse = Mary Gaddie
(1962–present)

| children = 3

| position_or_quorum1 = Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

| president1 = Gordon B. Hinckley

| start_date1 = {{start date|2007|10|06}}

| position_or_quorum2 = LDS Church Apostle

| called_by2 = Gordon B. Hinckley

| start_date2 = {{start date|2007|10|11}}

| ordination_reason2 = Death of James E. Faust; Henry B. Eyring added to First Presidency

| end_reason2 =

| reorganization2 =

| position_or_quorum3 = Presidency of the Seventy

| president3 = Gordon B. Hinckley

| start_date3 = {{start date|2007|08|01}}

| end_date3 = {{end date|2007|10|06}}

| end_reason3 = Called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

| position_or_quorum4 = First Quorum of the Seventy

| president4 = Gordon B. Hinckley

| start_date4 = {{start date|1998|04|05}}

| end_date4 = {{end date|2007|10|06}}

| end_reason4 = Called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

| position_or_quorum5 = Second Quorum of the Seventy

| president5 = Gordon B. Hinckley

| start_date5 = {{start date|1996|04|06}}

| end_date5 = {{end date|1998|04|05}}

| end_reason5 = Transferred to the First Quorum of the Seventy

| list_notes =

}}

Quentin LaMar Cook (born September 8, 1940) is an American religious leader and former lawyer and business executive who is currently a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Currently, he is the seventh most senior apostle in the church.Apostolic seniority is generally understood to include all ordained apostles (including the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Seniority is determined by date of ordination, not by age or other factors. See Succession to the presidency and {{cite journal |last= Heath |first= Steven H. |url=https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V20N02_46.pdf |title=Notes on Apostolic Succession |journal=Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=44–56 |date=Summer 1987 |doi= 10.2307/45216003 |jstor= 45216003 }}.

Biographical background

Born in Logan, Utah, Cook is among three children of Bernice Kimball and J. Vernon Cook. He is a great-great grandson of LDS Church apostle Heber C. Kimball and great-grandson of David Patten Kimball.{{cite web | title=5 Fun Facts about Elder Cook | author=Carly M. Springer | date=September 8, 2014 | work=LDS Living | url=http://ldsliving.com/story/76776-5-fun-facts-about-elder-cook | access-date=2015-05-05}}

Raised in Logan, Cook attended Logan High School, where he participated in many sports, including football, basketball, baseball, and track. At Logan High, he was a teammate of future NFL great Merlin Olsen.{{cite news|title=Elder Cook throws pitch|url=https://www.thechurchnews.com/archive/2011-07-30/elder-cook-throws-pitch-37337|access-date=October 6, 2014|work=Church News|date=July 30, 2011}}

From 1960 to 1962, Cook served as an LDS Church missionary in England, where he and Jeffrey R. Holland served as companions, with Marion D. Hanks as mission president.{{citation |url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2008/04/elder-quentin-l-cook-a-willing-heart-and-mind?lang=eng |title= Elder Quentin L. Cook: A Willing Heart and Mind |first= Jeffrey R. |last= Holland |author-link= Jeffrey R. Holland |journal= Ensign |date=April 2008 |access-date= 2015-05-05}} After his return, he married his high school sweetheart, Mary Gaddie, in the Logan Utah Temple on November 30, 1962. He graduated from Utah State University in 1963 with a bachelor's degree in political science and from Stanford Law School in 1966.{{cite web | title=Four Prominent Individuals to Receive Honorary Degrees from USU | date=April 26, 2012 | work=Utah State Today | publisher=Utah State University | url=http://www.usu.edu/ust/index.cfm?article=51098 | access-date=2015-05-05}}

The Cooks moved to Hillsborough, California, where they had three children. Cook worked for 27 years as a corporate attorney, becoming a managing partner of Carr, McClellan, Ingersoll, Thompson and Horn in the San Francisco Bay area. Later in his career, he served as president and chief executive officer of California Healthcare System (CHS) for three years and then as vice chairman of Sutter Health System.{{ citation |url= http://www.sfweekly.com/1998-01-21/news/sutter-s-empire-strikes-back/ |title= Sutter's Empire Strikes Back |newspaper= SF Weekly |date= 1998-01-21 |first= Lisa |last= Davis |access-date= 2015-05-05}} Cook did pro bono work as a city attorney for 14 years.

Cook's work in privatizing hospitals in California involved some controversy. As an attorney representing public hospital districts, he negotiated deals favorable to nonprofit healthcare corporations before leaving to become an executive with those corporations.{{cite news | author=Richard Halstead | title=Marin Healthcare District officials cite unpaid reimbursements, claim Sutter owes $763,000 | date=January 24, 2010 | work=Contra Costa Times | url=http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_14261654 | access-date=2015-05-05}}{{cite news | author=Bruce Robinson | title=Gold in Them Thar Ills | date=January 11–17, 1996 | work=Sonoma County Independent | url=http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/01.11.96/frontlines-9602.html | access-date=2015-05-05}} Critics claimed the deal quietly gave public revenues to private interests.San Francisco Examiner quoted from November 24, 1987. In {{cite news | title=Give Marinites Their Hospital Back | date=September 1997 | work=Coastal Post | location=Bolinas, CA | url=http://www.coastalpost.com/97/9/17.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980201002135/http://coastalpost.com/97/9/17.htm | url-status=usurped | archive-date=February 1, 1998 | access-date=2015-05-05}}{{cite news | author=Norman Carrigg | title=Marin General Hospital Update | date=August 2004 | work=Coastal Post | location=Bolinas, CA | url=http://www.coastalpost.com/04/08/25.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040901181847/http://www.coastalpost.com/04/08/25.htm | url-status=usurped | archive-date=September 1, 2004 | access-date=2015-05-05}}{{cite news | author=Stephanie Hiller | title=Problems at Marin's Sutter Hospital | date=October 16, 1996 | work=Albion Monitor | url=http://www.albionmonitor.com/community/ch-marin.html | access-date=2015-05-05}} In a lawsuit to regain control of the hospital, the districts alleged this was a conflict of interest and violated their public mission, but the court found that statute of limitations had expired. The hospital became part of CHS, which later joined Sutter Health, both of which held Cook as a top executive.

LDS Church service

Within the LDS Church, Cook has served as a bishop, counselor in a stake presidency, president of the church's San Francisco California Stake,{{cite news | author=Sarah Jane Weaver | title=His actions reflect his beliefs, devotion to gospel, the Lord | work=Church News | date=May 11, 1996 | url=http://www.ldschurchnewsarchive.com/articles/print/27521/His-actions-reflect-his-beliefs-devotion-to-gospel-the-Lord.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151022000935/http://www.ldschurchnewsarchive.com/articles/print/27521/His-actions-reflect-his-beliefs-devotion-to-gospel-the-Lord.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 22, 2015 | access-date=2015-05-05}} regional representative, and area seventy.

Cook was called as a general authority and member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy on April 6, 1996. He was transferred to the First Quorum of the Seventy on April 5, 1998. He was appointed as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy on August 1, 2007. As a general authority, Cook served in the presidency in the church's Philippines Area, as president of the Pacific and North America Northwest areas, and as executive director of the Missionary Department.

On October 6, 2007, Cook was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, filling a vacancy created by Henry B. Eyring being appointed to the First Presidency, following the death of James E. Faust.{{citation |url= https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/church-president-names-new-leaders |title= Church President Names New Leaders |work= Newsroom |date= 7 October 2007 |publisher= LDS Church }} As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, Cook is accepted by the church as a prophet, seer, and revelator.

Works

{{ citation |url= http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Partnering-with-Our-Friends-from-Other-Faiths.html |title= Partnering with Our Friends from Other Faiths |work= Future of Mormonism |publisher= Patheos |date= 9 August 2010 }}

Notes

References

{{ citation |url= https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/leader-biographies/elder-quentin-l-cook |title= Leader Biographies: Elder Quentin L. Cook |work= Newsroom |publisher= LDS Church }}
[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1996/05/news-of-the-church/elder-quentin-l-cook-of-the-seventy?lang=eng "Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Seventy"], Ensign, May 1996