On Thursday, January 22, Blair students had the opportunity to connect with veteran healthcare advisor Kevin Cook ’86, who came prepared with anecdotes about his experiences on campus as well as the humble professional beginnings that set him up for success. The event supplemented Blair’s Alumni Roundtables, a series that brings graduates from a wide range of industries back to campus to share their professional and life experiences with current students. Thursday’s event, hosted by Head of School Peter G. Curran P’27 ’27 at Sharpe House, featured a conversation centered on healthcare, followed by a Q&A session.

With over 20 years of experience in healthcare leadership, Mr. Cook had plenty of advice and stories to share with his future fellow alumni. Starting with memories at Blair, such as his time spent on the football and lacrosse fields to building core memories with his prefectees in South, Mr. Cook then eased into his reflections on how he found not only his strength, but most importantly, his confidence within professional settings. 

After Mr. Cook graduated from Blair, the former Buccaneer went on to earn his undergraduate degree from Hobart and William Smith College and a master’s degree in business administration from Boston University. From 1991 to 1999, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps before pivoting to a career in healthcare leadership. However, reflecting on his path, he admits that it hadn’t always been clear.

“I did an independent major at Hobart in foreign policy. With the help of my faculty sponsor, I designed my own major. During my senior year at Hobart, I was elected president of the student body. One of the things that struck me at the end of that year–which kind of changed how I really approached the rest of my life–was, when I finished that year as student body president, I thought I could have done a much better job. I realized that I had the ability to get myself in a leadership role, but I really had no idea what to do once I was there.”

What Mr. Cook went on to realize, and as much of a testament to his own character and work ethic, was that he wanted to learn more about leadership. And when looking at his two options–LSAT and law school or the Marine Corps–he chose the latter. 

“Leadership was the thing that fascinated me. At the time, I was really thinking about going to law school, but when I reflected about the role I’d had and what I hadn't accomplished as student body president, I decided to pivot. I figured I would learn a lot more about leadership in the Marine Corps than going to law school."

After an intense 11 weeks of trying to “make the cut,” Mr. Cook graduated with 32 fellow comrades, which turned out to be just half of the initial class. The next few years would present even bigger challenges, all of which Mr. Cook worked his way through, steadily accumulating the expertise that shaped him into a strong, confident and respected leader. 

Following his time with the Marine Corps, Mr. Cook funneled his experiences into bettering healthcare safety. 

“I became what’s called a Lean Six Sigma engineer, which is using statistics to analyze business processes. I did that in the hospital for about a year before the hospital CEO came to me and said, ‘I want you to become an assistant administrator,’ which is basically a hospital CEO in training. And so I made the switch from consulting over to an assistant administrator.”

From that point on, the rest of his professional career followed a path very different from what he had experienced right after college. When reflecting on his experiences now, he openly shared with Blair students that life happens, and if you have an open mind, you’ll find the path that’s right for you.

The evening closed with additional questions from the students where Mr. Cook reiterated the importance of finding your passion.

Kevin Cook ’86 is a longtime healthcare leader with more than two decades of experience in hospital administration and healthcare consulting. He currently serves at Sutter Health, following his work as a managing principal at Caldwell Butler. Mr. Cook has previously held senior leadership roles with Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and Mercy Health in Cincinnati, and remains committed to sharing his professional experiences with the Blair community.