Robert Cook teaches music theory with special focus on chromaticism, contextual music, and history of music theory. Before coming to UI, he taught at Washington University in St. Louis and spent three years as a writer and editor in educational publishing. He also taught at Lake Forest College, Roosevelt University, and the University of Chicago. He was educated at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University.

Dr. Cook has presented papers on transformational approaches to late nineteenth-century harmony, the music of Wagner and Franck, and the music-theoretical thought of David Lewin. A forthcoming article in the Journal of Music Theory reflects on the epistemological underpinings of recent neo-Riemannian theory and analysis.

Other research interests include the music of George Crumb and the ways mathematics came to be used to model and interpret post-tonal music.