One of UT’s First Female Computer Science Students Honored by Sons’ Gift

When Mary K. Cook graduated from UT in 1967, she was one of only two women studying computer science in UT’s Department of Mathematics.

Today, the Mary K. Cook Mathematics Scholarship—established in her memory by her sons, Joe and Byron Clark, and their families—provides funding for undergraduate students demonstrating financial need and academic promise. (Joe and Bryon Clark opted to use their mother’s maiden name, Mary K. Cook, on the scholarship.)

“Mom was a bit of an anomaly in small-town Tennessee in the ‘50s and ‘60s. She grew up surrounded by educated women,” Joe Clark said. Cook’s own mother and aunts all attended college and taught school for many years.

Clark said his mother was valedictorian of her senior class at Madisonville High School and competed at the state level in spelling and public speaking.

After graduating from UT, Mary Cook worked as a computer programmer for IBM for more than 25 years. She also worked for Lockheed Martin Corp. and Loral Federal Systems Inc. 

“IBM asked her to work on some of their top projects around the country, including Skylab at Johnson Space Center,” he said.

Clark knows tidbits about his mom’s time at UT: She was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority; she loved eating the liver and onions at the Varsity Inn in Gibbs Hall; and she couldn’t work as a computer science intern because all of the student interns stayed in the same dorm and women weren’t allowed there.

Joe Clark and his wife, Kim, live in Arlington, Va. He is a financial analyst and strategist for Capital One. Byron Clark and his wife, Liz, live in Greencastle, Pa.  Byron runs an online gaming business.

“Mom was a really interesting blend of an intellectual woman and a traditional Southern woman,” Joe Clark said. “She was a voracious reader. At one point we estimated she had over 10,000 books in the house. Growing up we played Trivial Pursuit and card games on the weekends, and nobody could beat Mom.”

Mary Cook passed away in July 2022 from complications from early-onset dementia. 

“I am just incredibly proud that she was my mother,” Joe Clark said. “If there was something we could do to help and encourage women in math and computer science we thought it would be a terrific way to honor her accomplishments.”

-Story by Amy Blakely