C. Lee Cooke, President and CEO of Habitek International, Inc., will speak at next week’s Bee Cave Rotary meeting from 7:30-8:30 a.m., March 17, at the Old Bee Cave School House, 13333-A Highway 71 West, next to the Bee Cave Police Department.

Cooke has over 39 years of senior leadership experience in the public and private sectors. He has spent 18 years as Founder and CEO of Habitek International, Inc. Prior to his recent activities in the private sector, Cooke spearheaded Austin’s efforts to become one of the nation’s premier research/idea creation centers from 1977 to 1991.
He served as served as President & CEO of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, and Mayor, Mayor-protem and Council Member of the City of Austin from 1977 to 1991. During his tenure as Mayor, Cooke oversaw the investment of $3.5 billion in new capital into Austin. Major activities included the construction of a new Convention Center; company expansions by Motorola, IBM and 3M; approval of 44 miles of freeway, and relocation of the new airport to Bergstrom Air Force Base.
Regionally, Cooke served as President of the Austin-San Antonio Corridor twice and President of the Texas Municipal League representing over 1,000 Texas cities before the Texas Legislature. He worked hard to bring a regional perspective to Austin government, working closely with the regional city leaders around Austin to understand their points of view including Bee Cave.
Before entering public service, Mr. Cooke served in numerous manufacturing, human resources and engineering management positions at Texas Instruments, Inc. for 11 years.
Cooke completed graduate work toward an MBA at the University of Texas in 1971-1973 and received his BA from Louisiana Tech University in 1966. Cooke has been an Austin resident for 39 years.
He also served in the United States Air Force as an intelligence officer and did a tour of duty in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Bronze Star.
For more information, visit www.beecaverotary.com or contact Laura Mitchell at 263-5833, or Barbara Hathaway at 767-6624.