William Alfred "Bill" Cook (January 27, 1931 – April 15, 2011[1]) was an American entrepreneur, philanthropist and historic preservationist who founded the medical equipment manufacturer Cook Group in 1963. He resided in Bloomington, Indiana and was one of America's wealthiest men.
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Cook was born in Mattoon, Illinois and he grew up and graduated from high school in Canton, Illinois where he was a letterman in football, basketball and track. He majored in biology at Northwestern University where he joined Beta Theta Pi fraternity, graduating in 1953.
Founded to make medical devices, including guidewires for catheter angiography, at the request of Dr. Charles Dotter, Cook, Inc. grew into one of the world's largest manufacturers of medical equipment. Notable products included the Spectrum antibiotic-impregnated catheter (Rifamphin/Minocycline); the Gianturco-Roubin coronary stent, the first coronary stent approved for use in the USA; the first paclitaxel-coated drug-eluting stent, the Supra-G, tested in Asia; and the V-Flex, tested in Europe. Cook Group has been approved by the FDA.
Cook and his wife Gayle have taken an interest in historic preservation projects as business ventures. The most notable project has been the restoration of the West Baden Springs Hotel in partnership with Indiana Landmarks. This project led Cook to take on the development of the French Lick Resort Casino project in Orange County, Indiana. In June 2007, Indiana Landmarks unveiled an award, to be called the "Cook Cup," for outstanding individual contributions to historic preservation in Indiana. Also in 2007 Bill, his wife Gayle and son Carl provided the funds to restore Beck's Mill at Salem, Indiana.
In April, 2010, Indiana Landmarks announced a $7-million pledge from the Cooks to restore the former Central Avenue Methodist Church in Indianapolis as a performance venue and new state headquarters for Landmarks now known as the Indiana Landmarks Center.
Since early 2009 he has been working to build up and preserve the downtown area of his hometown, Canton, Illinois as well as building a factory there with subsequent plans to build another. Also, a new hotel is being built.
Bill Cook also pioneered a drum & bugle corps known as the Star of Indiana. He not only provided the $1 million in seed money necessary to start the corps, he often helped drive the bus coaches that transported the corps around the country on summer tour. Star of Indiana won the Drum Corps International Division I World Championship in 1991 and placed no lower than third from 1990 onwards.
After the 1993 season, Cook and Star of Indiana left DCI and began touring as Brass Theater before debuting the show Blast! at the London Apollo in Hammersmith. The show opened in the United States in 2000 and moved to Broadway in 2001. It won the 2001 Tony Award for "Best Special Theatrical Event" [1] and also won the 2001 Emmy Award for "Best Choreography." [2]
The Cook Group donated $15 million to Indiana University Athletics. The gift was primarily used for immediate enhancement of the basketball development center which was then named "Cook Hall."
In 2008, he was worth around $5 billion, according to the Forbes 400.[2] Bill Cook was the richest man in the state of Indiana.
In September 2010, Cook was ranked No. 101 on the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans. His wealth was estimated at $3.1 billion.