Last updated on: 9/13/2011 | Author: ProCon.org

Phillip J. Cook, PhD Biography

Title:
Professor of Public Policy at Duke University
Position:
Not Clearly Pro or Con to the question "Should the Death Penalty Be Legal?"
Reasoning:

“If the death penalty had been abolished on July 1, 2004, state government expenditures for processing murder cases would have fallen by $10.8 million per year… The bottom line is that the death penalty is a financial burden on the state and a resource-absorbing burden on the trial courts.”

“Potential Savings from Abolition of the Death Penalty in North Carolina,” American Law and Economics Review, Dec. 11, 2009
Involvement and Affiliations:
  • Professor, Sanford Institute of Public Policy, Duke University, 1973-present
  • Schelling Visiting Professor of Public Policy, University of Maryland, 2008-2009
  • Recipient, Raymond Vernon Memorial Prize for best paper in Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2008
  • Recipient, Richard A. Stubbing Teacher Mentor Award, 2008
  • Member, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, 2001-present
  • Fellow, American Society of Criminology, 2000-present
  • Visiting Scholar, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 2000
  • Director and Chair of, Sanford Institute of Public Policy, Duke University, 1985-1989, 1997-1999
  • Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research, 1996-present
  • Visiting Professor, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, 1989-1990
  • Consultant, Criminal Division, US Department of Justice, 1982
  • Visiting Scholar, Institute for Research in Social Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Fall 1980
  • Recipient, Special Career Fellowship, Ford Foundation, 1968-1972
  • Member, Committee on Law and Justice, National Research Council
  • Honorary Fellow, American Society of Criminology
Education:
  • PhD, Economics, University of California at Berkeley, 1973
  • BA, high distinction, University of Michigan, 1968
Other:
  • Former Member, Division Committee for the Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Research Council
  • Former Consultant, Enforcement Division, US Department of Treasury