Rebecca J. Cook

Background

Rebecca Cook was born on December 2, 1946 in Bennington, Bennington County, Vermont, United States. She is the daughter of John Ransom and Helen Cummings (Vanderbilt) Cook.

Education

In 1970 Rebecca Cook graduated from the Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Laws in 1987. In 1972 she received a Master of Arts degree from the Tufts University. In 1973 Cook obtained a Master of Public Administration degree from the Harvard University. In 1982 she received a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the Georgetown University.

Career

In 1972 Rebecca Cook was a United States delegate to Second World Conference on National Parks and a member of Massachusetts Citizens Committee for Environmental Affairs. From 1973 to 1978 Cook was a director of law program at the International Planned Parenthood Federation, London, England. From 1978 to 1981 she served as a consultant to United States Congress. In 1980 she became an associate at the Beveridge, Fairbanks & Diamond, a law firm. In 1981 she became a member of legal counsel’s office at the Upjohn Company and served for a year. In 1982 Cook was admitted to the bar in Washington, D.C.

From 1983 to 1987 Rebecca Cook worked as an assistant professor of clinical public health at the Columbia University in New York City and a staff attorney for developmental law and policy program at Center for Population and Family Health from 1983 to 1987. In the same year she became an adjunct assistant professor. From 1985 to 1987 Rebecca was an adjunct faculty member of the Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. From 1986 to 1987 she was a deputy director of the International Women’s Human Rights Action Watch. In 1987 Cook became an assistant professor in the faculties of law and medicine at the University of Toronto.

Rebecca Cook was a member of Board of directors at the Operation Crossroads Africa from 1972 to 1974, of the Association for Voluntary Surgical Contraception from 1982 to 1887 and of the International Projects Assistance Service in 1982. From 1978 to 1980 she was a member of advisory committee on depo provera, AID. Cook was a member of advisory board of Program for the Introduction and Adaptation of Contraceptive Technology in 1982. In 1986 Cook became a member of standing committee for the study of ethical aspects of human reproduction at the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. In 1988 she was a member of expert advisory panel on human reproduction at the World Health Organization.

Rebecca Cook is the author of "Abortion Laws in Commonwealth Countries" (1979), "The Human Problem of Abortion: Medical and Legal Dimensions: Conclusions of the Ad Hoc Expert Panel on Abortion, 16-18 February 1978, Held at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Study and Conference Center, Bellagio, Italy" (1979), "Issues in Commonwealth Abortion Laws" (1982), "Women's Health and Human Rights: The Promotion and Protection of Women’s Health through International Human Rights Law" (1994), "Human Rights of Women: National and International Perspectives" (1994).

Achievements

• Rebecca J. Cook has made a contribution to international women’s rights as an author, legal educator, editor, lecturer, and participant in numerous conferences sponsored by such organizations as the World Health Organization and Planned Parenthood. She wrote several books on thos topic.
  
  From 1988 to 1991, she was a recipient of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grants and recipient of Ford Foundation grants in 1991.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Women's Health and Human Rights: The Promotion and Protection of Women's Rights

    (This book examines the development of international and n...)

    1994
  • Human Rights of Women: National and International Perspectives

    (Rebecca J. Cook and the contributors to this volume seek ...)

    1994

Connections

Rebecca Cook is married Bernard M. Dickens.

Father:

John Ransom Cook

Mother:

Helen Cummings Cook

Spouse:

Bernard M. Dickens

References

• Contemporary Authors
  1998