The Agriculture and Environmental Science department will say goodbye to Dr. Ed Brokaw and Dr. Jim Cooke at the end of the semester.

Dr. Ed Brokaw, professor and department chair, graduated from ACU in 1971 and returned as a professor soon after receiving his PhD in Animal Science at Oregon State University. After 43 years of serving the ACU community through the Ag and Environmental Science department, he will retire in May.

Dr. Jim Cooke began working as a professor at ACU in 1982 after 5 years of teaching. Cooke said although the timing of his retirement is sooner than he may have wanted, he is pleased with his time at the university and looks forward to the future.

“The joke around ACU is that you could teach until you can’t find your classroom anymore, so I don’t want to teach that long,” Cooke said. “I’d rather go out while I still feel like I am doing a good job and enjoying what I do.”

Cooke is not going to leave behind his motor-cycle enthusiasm and love for outdoor activities, sparking travel plans and quality time with his family.

“ACU is a great place,” Cooke said. “It’s a great place where lives are transformed, and I’ve had the opportunity to have a pretty abundant career. I get to enjoy the process of helping students learn over the years and become the people that God would have them to be.”

He plans to continue serving the department in retirement and assisting them with projects at the ACU owned and operated Rhoden Farm.

“Christian higher education is a very fulfilling career,” Cooke said. “I would encourage anyone to pursue it. It’s not a career in which you are going to be the richest person on the planet, but your riches are going to be of a kind that is much more valuable.”