Background
Leonard Aaron Cohen was born on September 1, 1933, in Paterson, New Jersey. His father, Morris Cohen, owned multiple delis in New York City and New Jersey; his mom, Rebecca (née Harelick), was a homemaker.
He went to his native high school and changed his surname as a youth to avoid antisemitism. Before enrolling in the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Dental Medicine, he accomplished his undergraduate studies at Indiana University. He enlisted in the American Air Force and served two years in Japan after receiving his degree in 1957. After serving in the military, Cole moved back to Berkeley, California, where he worked as a dentist. He also obtained a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California. Afterward, he relocated to northern New Jersey, where he established his family-run dental practice in 1961. After that, he continued his postgraduate studies in political science, earning a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Columbia University in 1970.
In addition to teaching emergency medicine at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, he served as an adjunct professor of political science at Rutgers University-Newark in New Jersey. He was the founding director of the medical school’s Program on Terror Medicine and Security and a pioneer in the development of the discipline of terror medicine.
Career and Achievements
Dr. Cole stopped working as a dentist in 2000 but kept writing novels. His tenth book, released this year, tells the tale of Dr. Fredrick Reines, who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for co-discovering the neutrino, a subatomic particle. Doctor Cole’s relative was Dr. Reines.
In television, Leonard A. Cole made educational appearances. Eleven publications spanning a wide range of scientific subjects that contributed to numerous fields of study were either written by him or edited by him. At the same time, he was actively involved in writing and editing. Several prestigious academic journals and magazines, such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Sciences, and Scientific American, have published his articles. The PBS News Hour recorded more of Leonard Cole’s informative interviews and speeches and uploaded them online.
The Andrew Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Rockefeller Foundation all gave Cole grants and fellowships. The University Of Pennsylvania, School Of Dental Medicine, honored him with its alumni merit award in 2008. He was on the board of the Washington Center for Middle East Policy and was a fellow of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He was featured in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) journal, Superscript as a former board member of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) Alumni Association.
Some of his books include
- The Eleventh Plague: The Politics of Biological and Chemical Warfare
- Element of Risk: The Politics of Radon
- Terror: How Israel Has Coped and What America Can Learn
- Clouds of Secrecy: The Army’s Germ Warfare Tests Over-Populated Areas
- The Anthrax Letters: A Medical Detective Story
Conclusion
It is clear from both his academic work and professional experience that Leonard A. Cole has demonstrated expertise in a variety of subjects. In the many sectors to which he has made progressive contributions during the course of his career, which has spanned decades, he has had a positive influence.