Alumna continues her success as new Shell CEO

Linda Zarda Cook

Linda Zarda Cook, chief executive of London-based Shell Gas & Power, will bring her formidable talents back to North America to become CEO of Shell Canada, based in Calgary.

Cook, e'80, was named the 11th most powerful businesswoman in the world by Fortune magazine in October 2002; her ascendance to the list in 2001 was reported in the first edition of KU Connection.

Cook, a Shawnee native, has led the Gas & Power division since January 2000. From her home in London, she has traveled to many of the 40 countries that are part of the division's operations, which produce annual revenues of $15 billion.

She began her career in 1980 as a Shell reservoir engineer in the United States, advancing through the company to accept greater responsibilities in exploration and production with Shell U.S.A. Her first European assignment came in 1998, when she and her family moved to the Netherlands, where she led Shell International EP.

"I've been 'the only' or 'the first' for 20 years at Shell," Cook said in 2000, when she was the lone woman to address the World Petroleum Congress in Calgary. "It can be a bit lonely at times. One of the reasons I am where I am today is because I'm fiercely competitive. It's not a power-puff derby."

She also credits her success to her husband, Steve, who left his career upon the family's move to the Netherlands in 1998 to care for their three children, now ages 16, 14 and 11.

Carl Locke, retired KU dean of engineering, worked with Cook during her six years on the School of Engineering advisory board for chemical and petroleum engineering. "Her accomplishments serve as a role model for the young women now studying engineering at KU," Locke said. "I know her success will be an inspiration for many of our students."

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