BUTTE – A large crowd came out earlier this week to meet the new chancellor for Montana Tech in Butte.
Dr. Les Cook spent about an hour on Wednesday shaking hands and greeting people at the Front Street Station during a meet-and-greet organized by the university.
Cook is coming to Butte from Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan.
“Being at Michigan Tech, I went there for three years and been there for 16 years, I’m very committed to the type of education we provide and I know what those graduates the amazing things they do when they go out into the world and that is very energizing to me,” said Cook.
Cook will be replacing Chancellor Don Blackketter who has been with Montana Tech since 2011. The search committee chose Cook over 56 candidates.
“One way in which Dr. Cook really stood out was his ability to engage the community and engage individuals and this is evidence here tonight, I mean, the turnout and watch him interact with his soon-to-be colleagues and community supporters is really great,” said Brock Tessman with the Montana University System.
Cook said he’s looking forward to getting started at Montana Tech in July.
“I’m going to come in and listen and, you know, really get to know the campus and get to know the people. There are some challenges with enrollment so we need to take a hard look at that and think about what it is we do differently, where we need to adjust,” said Cook.
He added he and his wife are looking forward to living in Montana.
