Dr. Andy Brook
By: Jenna Hobin B.A. Hons
Giving Insight Fall 2021 Edition
“I don’t ever see myself not having graduate students, or stopping academic writing”. Andrew Brook–former Director of the Institute of Cognitive Science and retired Distinguished Research Professor in Philosophy–continues to dedicate his life to perennial learning and academia.
Prior to his retirement, Dr. Brook spent close to five decades working on Carleton’s scenic campus. As a senior academic, he felt compelled to marry his passions for giving back and enhancing student support by becoming a generous donor to Carleton University. This was reflected in the establishment of the Cognitive Science Graduate Scholarship in 2008 to support outstanding graduate students in the program proceeding from one year to the next.
At the time, Dr. Brook established the scholarship as an anonymous donor given his involvement in the building and administration of the Institute of Cognitive Science (ICS), including welcoming the first roster of incoming undergraduate students in 1993, followed by PhD students in 1996. In his role as Director of the ICS, he saw the direct impacts of investing financially in the futures of students, which made him gravitate towards creating an endowment to provide lasting support.
“I wanted to take some of the financial pressure away from doing graduate work, and to help make that easier for students,” says Dr. Brook. He described the establishment of the award as being “as easy as making a phone call”, and has since extended his generosity to making a planned legacy gift through his life insurance policy.
He chose to naturally have this bequest divided between the Department of Philosophy and Institute of Cognitive Science—the two departments where he devoted his career. Dr. Brook expressed that he is leaving it to the respective departments to allocate the funds at their discretion, ensuring that his support is based on priority need to create the most meaningful impact.
Despite being a retiree of Carleton University, Andrew Brook is still very well connected to our community of students. In addition to being a donor, he continues to commit his time to supervising research work, writing and working on a memoir for his grandchildren. Although he is making the most out of working from his home office here in Ottawa, Dr. Brook is looking forward to experiencing the bustling of students while taking in the views of the Rideau River from his ‘second home’ at Carleton.