When Kim Cook, a professor of cello, arrived at Penn State 17 years ago, she said the School of Music possessed an orchestra with “a handful of string majors.”

“With the [university’s] support, we’ve gone out and recruited an entire orchestra of majors,” Cook said.

Cook, the university’s inaugural Penn State laureate, said she hopes to use her new position as a way to highlight the strong commitment Penn State makes to the arts.

A major component of Cook’s one-year tenure as laureate will be a recital tour of the Commonwealth Campuses, during which she hopes to work with local community groups and potentially incorporate a residency at some campuses.

“I want to call attention to the activities that we already offer,” she said. “I think that just getting the arts out in a more visible spot is beneficial because, then, hopefully more students and community members will attend the concerts and other offerings.”

Cook, who holds degrees from Yale University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has taught cello in the Penn State School of Music since 1991.

The travel associated with the laureate position is nothing new for Cook.

In 1996, Cook served as a U.S. State Department ambassador, performing concerts of North and South American music in 22 cities in eight countries.

“It was a wonderful, exciting trip,” Cook said. “The purpose of these State Department tours is to familiarize these countries with some of the music that is written by American composers and also to get an idea of what music is going on in those countries.”

As a soloist, Cook has given concerts in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, China, Israel, Jordan and throughout the Americas.

Sherry Roush, an associate Italian professor who served on the laureate selection committee, wrote in an e-mail that she has high hopes for Cook’s tenure as laureate.

“I anticipate that Kim Cook’s combination of accomplishments in her field and abilities to communicate to a variety of audiences on matters related to the Laureate position will serve her well as she helps to define this new position,” Roush wrote. “I look forward to seeing her blossom in her new role.”

Cook said she does not intend to reapply for the position after her tenure as laureate has concluded.

“They want the university arts and humanities to be represented by the different areas,” she said. “Each person [who serves as Penn State laureate] will have something different to give.”

The existence of the laureate position is emblematic of Penn State’s dedication to the arts, Cook said.

“I feel that this position is actually something that shows the support given by [Penn State President Graham Spanier] and shows that the university does value the arts and humanities,” she said.