Richard J. Cook, who is retiring after 12 years as president of Allegheny College, will be the featured speaker at the 40th annual Greater Meadville Area Day.

The event, sponsored by the Economic Progress Alliance of Crawford County, will be held July 31 at The Country Club. The schedule includes a complimentary lunch from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., golf with a shotgun start at 12:30, cocktail hour at 5 and dinner at 6. Richard Burkhardt is chairman of the event.

The day was initiated in 1969 by the Meadville Area Industrial Commission to honor the late Harry C. Winslow, a business leader and surgeon in the Meadville area.

Each year, area leaders representing business, labor, industry and government meet to get to know each other better and, as a result, work together more effectively to promote the economic development of the Meadville area and Crawford County.

Highlighting the evening, the recipient of the Winslow Award for 2008 will be named at the dinner. Not publicly announced until that time, the award is presented each year to an individual or company that has made significant contributions to the economic development of the greater Meadville area and Crawford County.

Cook’s presence is of special significance to this year’s event organizers. The college of 2,000 students is well known for its impressive academic reputation among liberal arts colleges, and in his 12 years at Allegheny, the campus has seen significant transformation to its buildings and grounds. Also, near the end of his tenure, Cook initiated a detailed economic study showing that the college — Meadville’s third largest employer — has a $93 million annual impact on the Crawford County community. “Allegheny is arguably the most powerful and stable economic engine in the region,” Cook wrote in a farewell column in The Meadville Tribune on June 22.

“I sensed from my start here that Allegheny’s future and Meadville’s future are inextricably linked, and that belief has only strengthened since my arrival in 1996,” he noted.

Cook is an honors graduate of the University of Michigan and holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University. Prior to coming to Allegheny, he served as provost of Kalamazoo College in Michigan, where he began his career as a chemistry professor. His scientific research and his work in regulatory matters have been widely published in professional journals and commissioned reports.

During Cook’s presidency, Allegheny’s national prominence grew through curricular innovation and the creation of award-winning centers for innovation. And during his tenure, applications for admission and the college’s endowment both have doubled, and the campus has undergone more than $90 million in new construction and renovation. In 2006, the college’s largest fundraising campaign ever — Traditions and Transformations — exceeded its goal, with more than $115 million in gifts and non-government commitments.

One of President Cook’s contributions to the greater Meadville area was his support of and leadership in civic engagement by Allegheny’s students, faculty and staff to partner with and improve community and economic development. Early in his presidency he understood that the future of the college and the greater Meadville area are closely interrelated.

Cook and his wife, Terry Lahti, have relocated to his family homestead in Michigan.