John Williston Cook (April 20, 1844 – July 15, 1922) was an educator during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the United States, specifically in Illinois.

[1] He taught for one year in Brimfield, Illinois, before returning to Normal and becoming the principal of the model school associated with ISNU.

[4] Cook was president of the university when it broke its tradition of free tuition and instituted a fee of two dollars per term starting in December 1898.

[6] Cook encouraged ISNU graduates, both of the university and model school, to continue their education beyond the campus in order to strengthen their training as teachers, and heavily supported the faculty’s study of Herbartianism.

[8][3] In 1893, the Normal Pedagogical Club was founded and Cook was elected president, while Charles McMurry served as secretary.