Colonel James L. Cook, Professor and Head of the Department of Philosophy, United States Air Force Academy

Colonel James L. Cook was born in Roswell, New Mexico, near the Strategic Air Command base where his father, an Air Force master sergeant, was then stationed. Colonel Cook graduated from Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, in 1980 with a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy. While working in Boulder, Colorado, at a chemistry lab and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, he began taking math classes at the University of Colorado and received a second bachelor of arts degree in 1983.

Following commissioning in 1985 at the Officer Training School, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, Colonel Cook completed the Communications-Computer Officer Basic Course at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, as a distinguished graduate. His first assignment was to the Pentagon, where he was an Air Staff Project Officer, Command and Control Branch Chief, and Executive Officer for a group of more than 1100 personnel. He received an Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) scholarship to The Catholic University of America, Washington, District of Columbia, and completed his master of arts degree in philosophy there in 1992.

His next assignment was to the United States Air Force Academy as an instructor in the Department of Philosophy, where he also served as Executive Officer. The department selected him to pursue a doctorate at a university of his choice.

Having chosen to study in Germany at the Universit”t-Heidelberg, Colonel Cook graduated magna cum laude in 1997. Shortly before graduating he became Chief, Communication and Information Systems, Interim Deployable Combined Air Operations Center, North American Treaty Organization (NATO), Ramstein Air Base, Germany, where he remained until 1999. In that deployable CAOC he trained and exercised in several locations in Western and Eastern Europe with NATO and Partnership for Peace member nations.

In 1999 he returned to the United States Air Force Academy, officially assuming his duties as Professor and Head of the Department of Philosophy in June 2002. He was promoted to colonel in October 2002. His research interests include ethics and hermeneutics; recent publications include the book chapters "The Aesthetics of Weapons Employment" and "Jonke's Worldly Measure."

Mr. John Truslow, Assistant Director, Center for the Study of Professional Military Ethics, United States Naval Academy

John Truslow, a native of Atlanta, Georgia, has been an assistant director at The Center since September of 2001. He came to Annapolis from Washington, DC, where he was an organizational ethics and character development consultant for The Ethics Resource Center (ERC), a non-profit educational institution on the forefront of practical and applied ethics issues. Prior to his work at the ERC, John was a computer and internet technology specialist in many capacities, from sales to software training to systems engineering. John has his masters degree in Philosophy from the University of Montana - a unique program that specializes in the teaching of ethics in traditional and non-traditional settings. He has his undergraduate degree in political theory from the University of the South ("Sewanee").

John is primarily responsible for a comprehensive assessment process designed to a) articulate the intent of the Academy's ethics, character, and honor initiatives, b) create evaluative tools and measures appropriate to the culture, and c) foster a participatory environment in which a wide range of individuals utilize the findings and provide continuing feedback. He is creating a comprehensive Teaching Ethics Resource Room to be used by faculty, students and staff in their efforts to include ethics in every academic discipline. He is also the coach and faculty sponsor of the Academy's Ethics Bowl team (The Ethics Bowl is a national contest in which major colleges compete against one another by presenting verbal solutions to interesting ethical dilemmas).

John has traveled extensively - living abroad four times - and is interested in writing and juggling. He spent one summer in Haiti doing volunteer aid work, and spent another summer in Hawaii as a youth director on board a cruise ship. He is very happy to be at the Naval Academy.

Lieutenant Colonel Daniel S. Zupan, Academy Professor, Department of English, United States Military Academy

LTC Zupan is a native Montanan. He serves as an Infantry officer in the United States Army and was commisssioned from Officer Candidate School in 1981. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Airborne and Ranger Schools. LTC Zupan served in Europe in a mechanized infantry division but has spent most of his field army time as a paratrooper with the 82d Airborne Division. His most recent field duty was in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

He received a Ph.D. in philosophy in 2000 from the University of New Mexico. His areas of specialization are Just War Theory and Ethics. He is currently an Academy Professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY.