HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Long-time Ashland, Kentucky, pediatrician Cheryl L. Cook, M.D., and her parents, Kyle and Jo Ann Cook, have established a new scholarship at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine.

Cook grew up in Huntington, attending Marshall University and the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine and graduating in the Class of 1985. Following medical school, she completed her pediatric residency at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and returned to the region to practice at Tri-State Pediatrics in Ashland, Kentucky, for 32 years.

Kyle and Jo Ann (Halstead) Cook grew up in the Beckley, West Virginia, area where they were high school sweethearts at Woodrow Wilson High School. Kyle retired from AT&T as business manager for West Virginia and western Pennsylvania. Jo Ann retired from the Huntington office of former Congressman Nick J. Rahall.

“The education I received at the Marshall School of Medicine was exemplary,” Cook said. “It allowed me to fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming a doctor. My parents and I want to assist other medical school students in achieving their dreams.”

In establishing The Dr. Cheryl L. Cook and Kyle and Jo Ann Cook Scholarship, Cook said they hoped to assist qualified medical students in relieving some of the financial burden that comes with medical school. It is designated for first-year medical students, with first preference given to students from Cabell County and second preference given to students from Raleigh County in West Virginia. Third preference is given to students from the FIVCO Area Development District (Boyd, Carter, Elliott, Greenup and Lawrence counties in Kentucky). The scholarship award is renewable, pending normal academic progress.

“This scholarship is an opportunity for us to cheer on other future physicians, as they cross those same milestones that I remember so vividly from 40 years ago,” Cook said.

For more information or to make a gift to the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, please contact Linda Holmes, director of development and alumni affairs, at 304-691-1711 or holmes@marshall.edu. For news and information about the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, follow us on Twitter @MUSOMWV, like us on Facebook or visit jcesom.marshall.edu. 

Photo caption: Dr. Cheryl L. Cook (back) and her parents, Jo Ann and Kyle Cook.

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Date Posted: Tuesday, August 24, 2021