Thomas M. Cook

Thomas M. Cook

Iowa City

Thomas M. Cook, PT, PhD, 79, passed away at his home surrounded by his family on Friday, October 18, 2024. He is survived by his wife of almost 55 years Joan, daughter Jennifer, son Jonathan, daughter-in-law Karen, grandchildren Emily, Andrew, and Rachel, sister Helen McGowan (Jack), and brother Fred Cook (Jackie).

Tom was born in Dayton, Ohio and grew up in Bellevue, Kentucky. He graduated from Newport Catholic High School in 1962 and Thomas Moore College in 1968. He met his future wife, Joan, when they were both working at St. Luke’s Hospital. They were married in Fort Thomas, Kentucky on November 28, 1969.

Tom served in the United States Army for three years and was stationed in Vietnam for nine months. He received an honorable discharge and the Bronze Star in 1971. Tom went on to attend Duke University and Drexel University, receiving master’s degrees in Physical Therapy and Biomedical Engineering. He was Director of the Biomechanics Research Laboratory at Moss Rehabilitation Hospital in Philadelphia for eight years.

In 1981, Tom was recruited to teach Physical Therapy at the University of Iowa. He and his family moved to Iowa City where he began a career that lasted more than 40 years. From 1981 to the late 1990s, he served in several faculty roles in Physical Therapy and the Department of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health in the College of Medicine. He became Professor of Occupational and Environmental Health in 1999, the inaugural year of the College of Public Health, which remained his academic home until his retirement in 2013.

Tom was a physical therapist, biomedical engineer, ergonomist, global health expert, public health advocate, and Fulbright Scholar. His many accomplishments include serving as founding director of the Ergonomics Training Program with the Heartland Center for Occupational Health and Safety, and as director of both the Center for International Rural and Environmental Health at the University of Iowa and the International Institute for the Rural and Environmental Health in Bratislava, Slovakia. He also led several research and training programs funded by the Fogarty International Center.

During the later stages of his career at the University of Iowa and into retirement, Tom directed his energy, talent, and compassion toward eliminating lifelong disability associated with clubfoot, the world’s most common skeletal birth defect. He served as Director of Global Operations for the Ponseti International Association and was a founding member of the Rotarian Action Group for Clubfoot. He also co-founded the non-profit Clubfoot Solutions, which distributes the low-cost Iowa Brace (a device he co-developed) for children around the world. In 2019 Tom published “Clubfoot: The Quest to Improve the Lives for Millions of Children” and “Lucky’s Feet,” a companion children’s book. Tom touched the lives of many people around the world through both his work and personal passions.

Donations in Tom’s name may be made to www.clubfootsolutions.org.

A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.

Online condolences at www.lensingfuneral.com.