Will Cook

Will Cook is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Historic Preservation program at Columbia GSAPP and associate general counsel at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Recent projects include defending the use of historic tax credits and preservation easements, challenging federal agency approval of the world’s largest wind farm in the middle of Nantucket Sound, securing boundaries for a traditional cultural landscape in New Mexico, helping stop inappropriate development near the Grand Canyon, and supporting historic property owners against the harmful effects of massive cruise ships in the Port of Charleston. He also serves as a board member on the Lawyers’ Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation, the New York Preservation Archive Project, and the Valleys Planning Council. Prior to joining the National Trust, Will taught as an assistant professor at the Charleston School of Law in the areas of property law, constitutional law, historic preservation, and art and cultural heritage law. Will has also worked at a nationally recognized law firm and for an international auction house in New York City. While in Charleston, Will served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Preservation Society, the oldest preservation advocacy group in the nation. He lectures regularly to national audiences on issues related to property, land use, and historic preservation law.